The Saver [Hardcover]

Edeet Ravel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Seventeen-year-old Fern is having a hard time: she finds school difficult, lives in a run-down apartment in a dangerous neighborhood, and watches her mother struggle to survive on a housekeeper’s meager salary. But through it all, Fern’s mother refuses to give in and makes sure that Fern knows she is loved. And Fern does have outlets: she writes to an imaginary friend named Xanoth, pets her beloved cat Beauty, and imagines living a different life. But when Fern’s mother dies suddenly of a heart attack, Fern finds herself struggling to survive in an entirely new way. This young-adult novel tells a stirring tale of perseverance, love, and hope.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–11—Fern, 17, returns home from school one afternoon to find out that her mother has been taken to the hospital. When the teen finally gets there, she is told that her mother has died of a massive heart attack. Fern immediately takes stock of the situation and realizes that she now has to make her own way in the world, as her only living relative is an uncle she's never met, and who was recently released from prison. Fern takes over her mother's house-cleaning jobs, but knows that she can't earn enough to support herself so she takes a job as a janitor, where she can get free rent. Although initially fearful, she quickly gains confidence in her abilities and adds two other part-time jobs. Nonetheless, she feels overwhelmed and exhausted all the time, until Uncle Jack shows up and helps out with some of the work she's been doing. Written as a series of letters to an imaginary friend on another planet, this is a compelling story of determination and the will to survive. Readers will sympathize with Fern's situation, especially in this time of serious economic instability. Pair this book with Paul Griffin's Ten Mile River (Dial, 2008) or Mary Pearson's A Room on Lorelei Street (Holt, 2005) for dramatic booktalks.—Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888998821
• ISBN-13: 978-0888998828
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,850,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, poignant story, March 2, 2009

By 

Sophia (the Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Saver (Hardcover)

Seventeen-year-old Fern has not had an easy life. She's not pretty or attractive; she and her mother are not well off, and she isn't that interested in or good at school.

Then Fern's mother dies and she has to figure out how to manage all on her own.

Told through the letters Fern writes to her extra-terrestrial friend Xanoth, Fern's story is by turns realistic, haunting, funny, sad and completely believable. Anyone who has ever written another person off as "marginal" or "unimportant" should read this book. It is great to see Fern's progression from mere survival to friendship to... who knows? I hope Ravel features her as a side character in a future novel - with that brains and determination, it would be fascinating to see the direction her life might take.