When the Road Ends [Hardcover]

Jean Thesman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1992

Three foster children, all with problems of their own, spend the summer with an unusual and unexpected companion, a woman recovering from an accident that killed her husband. Together they struggle to create an "absolutely perfect family."

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-- Mary Jack Jordan, 12, tells this story of the summer she and two other foster children, 14-year-old Adam and a badly abused, nameless 7-year-old called Jane, spend with their foster father's sister, Cecile Bradshaw, in a cabin in rural Washington. What further complicates this story is that Cecile has received serious head injuries in an automobile accident that killed her husband, and the housekeeper hired to care for all of them has run off. Not wishing to return to their unhappy foster home, Mary Jack and Adam conspire to find a way to remain at the cabin. Cecile's slow recovery, Jane's essential helplessness, a threatening neighbor, an accident, and the lies they must tell nearly overwhelm them, despite the kindness of an old friend of Cecile's and Mary Jack's fierce desire to keep her ``family'' together. Like Mary Call in the Cleavers' Where the Lilies Bloom (Lippincott, 1969), Carly in Byars's The Pinballs (HarperCollins, 1977), and the heroine of her own book, Rachel Chance (Houghton, 1990), Mary Jack takes on responsibilities far beyond her years in an effort to hold onto something secure. Like these other heroines, she too is at last able to find adults she can trust to help her. While the novel paints a darker portrait of the anguish of foster children than Byars's novel, it should appeal to younger readers who liked it and Paterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins (Crowell, 1978). Because it is enlivened by humor, strong characterization, and a hopeful ending, older readers who have enjoyed Thesman's other books will find it satisfying as well. --Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The author of Rachel Chance (1990) spins another likable melodrama about children with a precarious hold on their only home. For narrator Mary Jack, Father Matt is better than most in a long series of foster parents, though the kind Episcopal priest has a shrewish wife (Jill), and Mary Jack is stuck with most of the housework--as well as with caring for ``Jane,'' an abandoned waif who never speaks and bears terrible scars from abuse. To this uneasy m‚nage come Adam, 14, a taciturn rebel whose mother abandoned him, and Father Matt's sister Cecile, newly widowed after an auto accident that has also disabled one arm and left her aphasic. It's too much for Jill: as a stopgap, the three kids and Cecile are sent, under the nominal care of mean, indolent Gerry, to a riverside summer home Cecile has inherited, for a few weeks that extend into the whole summer. Gerry absconds with the cash; fearing they'll be split up and sent somewhere worse, the others muddle valiantly along until they end, predictably, by forming a viable new family. Cecile's recovery is uneven, but she gradually assumes a motherly role; Mary Jack learns to demand help and accept her own vulnerability; Adam proves loyal and resourceful; Jane warms to affection and finally reveals her real name. Meanwhile, a thoroughly nice high-school classmate of Cecile's turns out to be a neighbor, and a nearby camper provides some suspenseful menace. An old-fashioned fantasy, really: contrived, but genial, well-told, and engrossing. (Fiction. 10- 14) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 27, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039559507X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395595077
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,784,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When the Road Ends, December 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Road Ends (Hardcover)

WOW! Hi, (...) I am 13 years old. At our school we have to get reading points and I really dont like to read. I went to the library and checked out When the Road Ends because a few of my friends had suggested it. I went home and read the first chapter. I was hooked immediatly! The book is sooo good! It is my all time favorite! The next day we had a school delay and I finished the whole book in 1½ hours. Now I like to read and I always get books by Jean Thesman. She is a GREAT writer!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is A Great Book !, November 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Road Ends (Hardcover)

This is a great story about a 12 year old girl , Mary Jack , and how she copes with trying to live in a cabin by the river with 14 year old rebellious Adam , "Jane" a young girl who doesn't talk , and "Aunt Cecile" a middle aged lady recovering from a head injury in a car accident which left her husband dead. This is a very good story accept I would like it more if Adam and Mary Jack fall in love and end up getting married when they are older and they take "Jane" as their daughter.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely wonderful, November 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Road Ends (Hardcover)

This is an incredibly moving story of the power of love. Four misfits find a way to become a family despite overwhelming odds against them. Mary Jack takes on the responsiblities no child should have to face. She is forced to trust Adam, even when she logically knows she shouldn't. And finally Mary Jack lets someone take care of her. Have kleenex nearby for this one.