Hugging the Rock (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "When my mom decides to run away from home she packs up her car with all the things that matter most to her..." (more)
Key Phrases: Doctor Dan

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Presented in brief, free-verse poems, this is a poignant character study of a dysfunctional family. In the opening sequence, Rachel watches her mother get ready to run away from home, packing up the car with everything that is important to her, except her daughter. When Mom is gone, neither Rachel nor her father can cope. Rachel shuts down and ignores schoolwork and friends, questioning why her mother left and blaming herself. Dad does not initially provide much comfort, closing himself off, too. As in Kate DiCamillos Because of Winn-Dixie (Candlewick, 2000), father and daughter gradually grow closer together out of necessity and begin to pull together as a family. Rachel must accept the painful truth that her mother, who suffers from bipolar disorder, never really wanted to settle down or have children. Her father, who in the past had left most of the parenting to her mother, begins to play an active role in Rachels life and reveals his softer side, ultimately becoming more involved and affectionate. Written in straightforward language, the text clearly reveals Rachels emotions, describing moments both painful and reassuring. This novel will be therapeutic to children dealing with the loss of a parent or a mental illness.–Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI
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Review

Brown creates a poignant work dealing with a topic rare in children's literature. Readers will hug this book. I did. -- Lee Bennett Hopkins

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 170 pages
• Publisher: Tricycle Press (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582461805
• ISBN-13: 978-1582461809
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #682,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Verse Novel that Packs a Lot into Relatively Few Words, August 15, 2006

By	Jennifer Robinson "Editor of Jen Robinson's B... (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hugging the Rock is a middle grade novel written in verse. It's the story of how pre-teen Rachel adjusts after her mentally ill mother leaves home, and how she learns to rely on her emotionally distant father (the "rock" of the title). She starts out in denial, not doing her chores, not doing her homework, not telling her best friend or her teacher what's going on. Gradually, Rachel begins to learn more about her mercurial mother, and why her mother couldn't stay. She also learns more about her father, as they work together to build a new life for themselves.

Rachel's voice is pitch perfect. The verse format works well in conveying her disjointed thoughts, and her up and down moods. The verse also makes the book fly by - I read it in one sitting. But it makes you want to go back and re-read individual poems, too. I have two favorite parts. The first is the page titled "Mother's Day". The rest of the page is just blank. As in, what is there to say, it's Mother's Day, and my mother went away and left because she didn't want to be with us. These words don't need to be said - they're right there, hidden, on the blank page. There's also a scene in which Rachel and her father are in the car, returning home from an emotional visit to their counselor, Dr. Dan. Dad tries to talk. Rachel shrugs. Dad tries again, and, we hear from Rachel "I shrug louder." It's brilliant!

This book packs a lot into relatively few words. Susan Taylor Brown offers insights into life with a mentally ill parent, how fathers parent differently from mothers, how personally kids take any parental rejection, how "sometimes dads are better moms than moms are", and how, ultimately, people adapt to changing circumstances. Hugging the Rock is beautifully written, and I give it my highest recommendation.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on May 15, 2006, and was made possible by an advance reading copy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely novel, September 18, 2006

By	Debra Garfinkle "author of books for teens an... (Orange County, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very moving verse novel about a girl adjusting to life without her mother. Although there is pain in the book, caused by life with and without a mentally unbalanced mother, the bond that forms between the girl and her father is beautiful. Hugging the Rock was a real pleasure to read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like a rock, I was strong as I could be. Like a rock, nothing ever got to me., August 11, 2006

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Verse novels. Until script novels came along they were the hottest new children's literature format since kids books became more than didactic screeds. For a while there you couldn't walk into a library or open a bookstore door without tripping over a pile of these hot new titles. Now the siren call of the verse novel has quieted down and few authors go in for that particular format in as vast a numbers as they did five to ten years ago. But there are always exceptions. "Hugging the Rock" wriggled into my pile of books to read not too long ago, and even though I had many other titles to consider, I decided to give it a shot. That's the advantage of the verse novel. It's quick to read and should you find yourself not taking to it, finishing it might entail five or ten minutes of your time, max. In this particular case, however, "Hugging" is a particularly enjoyable read. Dealing with issues as difficult as those found in any Karen Hesse or Sharon Creech book, Brown gives us the story of those who run away and those that stay.

Rachel's mother ran away. Rachel's mother ran away while Rachel, her father, and the family dog all watched. It wasn't entirely out of the blue, but it wasn't as if the kid could see it coming. All her life her mother has been different from other moms. One minute she's manic, racing through shopping aisles or wanting to talk all night with her daughter. The next minute she's locked herself in the bathroom, sobbing and sobbing. So when she leaves, Rachel tries to figure out why. She blames her father, the guy her mother always called, "The Rock", for his reliability. She blames herself. Maybe there were things she could have done to make her stay. But slowly, very slowly, she and her dad start to get to know one another. Her mother left. Her father stayed. And by getting to know her own past, and by getting to know her own father, Rachel begins to understand exactly how important it is to have a rock in your life.

It's incredibly rare to have a book written for children where one of the stand up and cheer moments is when the child heroine cuts her mother out of a photograph. I recently read Tony Abbott's, "Firegirl", where that same action was done. In Abbott's case, the cutting is seen at the end of the book to have been a mistake. Here, it's a moment of strength. The strength to stop caring so much about someone who doesn't care for you. Hell, it's downright gutsy to go and create a mother character that seriously does not love her daughter. Name all the books off the top of your head that do this. Hard, isn't it? Even when mothers are evil or difficult (as in "Bucking the Sarge", by Christopher Paul Curtis or "The Same Stuff As Stars" by Katherine Paterson") they still seem to care deeply for their children. And perhaps on some level the mom in this book does too. Just the same, it's obvious that her bipolar nature keeps her from caring much for the people who care for her. That's the way of the world, people. Dealing with it is the hard part.

As with any verse novel, one unavoidable question rises up after a reading: Did this book have to be written in the verse format? Would it have benefited from a longer narrative? A little prose, perhaps? But the fact of the matter is that this is a very simple but emotional tale. Brown could have written pages and pages and pages of text. She could have dragged the plot out, thereby boring both the reader and herself. In the form of verse, however, she is able to synthesize every argument down to its most salient points. She's good with the simple sentences too. When Rachel discovers that her mother never even wanted to have Rachel in the first place and that it was her dad who fought for her existence the book reads, "His fingers rub in a circle / on the back of my hand / almost as if he's trying to rub wanting me / into my skin". Good stuff.

Brown is still finding her voice as a writer, but "Hugging the Rock" is an accomplished start. As verse novels go, this one may speak to those kids who are reluctant readers but still want a good and realistic story. A fine novel and a good book to begin with should you ever want to introduce a kid to the wide world of verse novels at all.