(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Billy Shine hasn't left his apartment in 12 years.  Everything the 37-year-old agoraphobic needs to survive can be delivered to his door and retrieved after the hallway empties out.  He sees no reason to interact with another human being.  Ever.  Billy would be happy to leave it that way for the rest of his life, too.  But then Grace comes along.  And changes everything.

From behind the curtain veiling his sliding-glass door, Billy spies the little girl sitting outside, alone.  Again.  It's almost dark in their not-so-great L.A. neighborhood and he's worried.  With her tangled hair and the forlorn expression she always wears, it's clear the child's not being looked after properly.  No that it's any of Billy's business, of course.  Still, he's concerned.  So much so that he edges out onto his balcony—outside!—to talk to her.  Grace Ferguson, as he learns, is a 9-year-old who lives in the building with her mother, a drug addict and alcoholic.  From eavesdropping on other neighbors' conversations, he knows the situation has caught the attention of CPS.  None of Grace's neighbors want the girl to be put into foster care, but what can they do?  The others have busy lives, no money, and little patience for Grace's mom, who cares more about drugs than her own daughter.

Billy doesn't want to get caught in the unfolding drama, but he can't help himself.  And, suddenly, the man who has hidden in his home for over a decade, is part of a care system intent on sheltering a troubled child.  He's interacting, not just with Grace, but also with neighbors he's never actually met before.  The unusual situation terrifies him and yet, it may just be healing him as well.  While the neighbors' desperate ploy to shield Grace from the perils of foster care is helping Billy, will it be enough to save Grace?  Especially when Eileen Ferguson demands that her nosy neighbors stop "stealing" her daughter?  What if leaving her mom and neighbors really is the best thing for Grace?  How would Billy survive the loss of the only good thing in his life?

I happened on Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde almost by accident and wow, I'm so glad I did!  It's a heart-felt novel that's warm, engaging and sweet without being overly sentimental.  The characters feel real, the conflict authentic—so much so that the reader can't help being invested in the outcome of the story.  Don't Let Me Go is a touching tale that teaches the importance of reaching out, letting people in, and using selfless love to lift and protect those who need it most.  If you can't tell, this novel just gave me all the feels.  I loved it.   

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs) and mature subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Don't Let Me Go from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.  

If this were a movie, it would be rated: 

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  

 for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence and intense situations

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Maggie Chen has always wanted to be a reporter like her dad.  So, the 16-year-old is thrilled to be interning in the newsroom of his paper, the Herald.  Even if her dad is no longer there, even if the smell of newsprint makes her miss him so badly it hurts, even if maybe she's not really cut out for the profession her dad loved so much.  If only she could talk to him about it all.  But, she can't—her father's dead, killed by a hit-and-run driver just before Maggie's internship began.  

Determined to do her father proud, Maggie throws herself into learning the ropes at the newspaper.  It's tougher than she expected, but soon, she sniffs out a real story.  As the teen heads into Seattle's Chinatown to investigate, she discovers that things—not just with her assignment, but also with her dad's death—are not exactly what they seem.  Wading through all the secrets and lies, many of them told by her own parent, Maggie must figure out what's true and what's not.  What kind of story was Mr. Chen investigating in Chinatown?  How did he really die?  And what connection does Maggie have to a Chinese peasant girl named Fai-yi Li?  Finding the answers means facing the (sometimes ugly) truth—about her father, her family, and herself.  Is she strong enough?  Or will unraveling all these mysteries just bring more hurt to the already-grieving teenager?   

Paper Daughter, a new YA novel by Jeanette Ingold, offers up so many of my favorite story elements: compelling characters, an intriguing mystery, tight plotting, vivid prose, and, at its center, a teenager's heart-tugging search for self.  And it's a clean book, to boot!  That's a rarity in and of itself.  This winning combination made for a story I enjoyed immensely and recommend without hesitation.  If you happen to belong to a mother/daughter book club, this would be a perfect pick.   

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of The Dragon's Child by Laurence Yep and The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman)

Grade:  

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for some violence

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Paper Daughter from the generous folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Thank you!