Nelson, Colleen. Finding Hope. Canada: Dundern, 2016.

Sometimes a book will just break my heart, perhaps mend it, and break it again. Finding Hope is one such title. Nelson tells, in alternating voices, the stories of Hope and her brother Eric. These stories are difficult ones. Hope is off to boarding school. Such a move is not her choice, but her mother is driven to get her out of the small town in which they live, so that she does not suffer the same fate as her brother. Eric is addicted to meth; because of tough love, he is homeless and helpless, were it not for the money and supplies that Hope sneaks to him when her father is not around. Boarding school does not work out so well for Hope. She becomes the victim of mean girls and bullying. Eric’s life becomes uglier and uglier as secret causes for his behavior are revealed. Together, will they have the strength to overcome the horror of the worlds around them.

This book is not an easy one to read. The gritty reality took my breath away. And what seemed too difficult for me to believe is sadly the likely reality for too many young people in our schools and our neighborhoods. I’d like to say the events are unbelievable. I’d like to say Nelson tackles too many big issues in one book. I’d like to say our kids should be protected from the story of Hope and Eric. What I must say is that Nelson creates genuine characters, fully realized, flaws, strengths and all. The conflicts are powerful and fully fleshed out. When I wanted to say, “Too much,” I said, “of course; oh no!”

My older students need to read this book. They need to understand the paths down which they can walk, ones nearly impossible to reverse. This title is instructive without being didactic and contains the kind of honesty to which many of my kids are drawn. Honestly, though, I still would not be comfortable with my tweens taking this one on. Certainly some of their lives can also be reflected in these pages. Others are still largely innocent, and I feel duty bound to protect that innocence even for just a bit longer. While this novel will not likely be in my library, it will certainly be in my arsenal, for the kids who need to see the other side of the dark, to see that they can, in fact, find hope.