Unravel

by Sharon Jennings

Overview

As Rebecca is about to turn twelve years old, she begins to realize that Joe, her father, is not the most supportive of parents. Rather he seems to want to turn her away from friendships, from involvement with others, from anyone who might intrude on their two lives. When it seems their affectionate neighbour is becoming too inquisitive, Joe abruptly arranges for himself and Rebecca to make a quick move to another place in the city. And as she reflects on things, Rebecca realizes that this is what has always happened. Also, she doesn't attend school, but is doing what her dad calls home-schooling. When she asks him about her family — grandparents and others — turns out that they're all dead. For various reasons, as Joe explains. That means the two of them are alone in the world, making their own way. Or, perhaps, allowing Joe to make whatever moves he wishes to without consulting anyone else — least of all, his daughter.
Life changes for Rebecca the day that she spots a new neighbour in their latest apartment building — someone who, though she seems a little fragile, has an aura of elegance about her and who also takes an immediate interest in the girl. As Rebecca gets to know Phoebe better, she also is able to look at Joe with different eyes — and, in the end, she realizes that her father is not at all who he has presented himself as.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889956193
Publisher:	Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited
Publication date:	03/23/2021
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Sharon Jennings is the author of The Bye-Bye Pie, Sleep Tight Mrs. Ming, When Jeremiah Found Mrs. Ming and Jeremiah and Mrs. Ming. Sharon has also written for the popular series of Franklin books. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

"It is no wonder this first-person novel begins saying that you can't write a story using the White Knight's formula — "begin at the beginning and go on until you come to the end. Then stop" — when you have spent so much of your life not knowing your beginning. So readers are thrown into the middle of the story and only gradually become aware of what came before what. This approach might have been confusing, but, in fact, Jennings has the narrative firmly in hand and guides readers through its ins and outs at a pace that keeps readers interested throughout. While Unravel is not quite a page-turner, it is certainly gripping. I've read about children being abducted by a parent or sometimes grandparent, and about how computers can "age" a picture of a child to an uncanny likeness of the teen, but this story brings it home in a particularly vivid way. Frankly, it sends shivers up the spine of a parent (me), and teenagers will find it riveting.
Highly Recommended"
— CM Magazine

From the Publisher

2021-01-26
A girl slowly realizes that life with her father is not as it should be.

In this novel narrated in the first person, Rebecca relates the strangeness of life with her father, whom she refers to by name as Joe. They frequently move around Toronto; she shops in thrift stores, only buying the baggy clothes that he insists upon; she has never attended school; and she rarely has friends her own age. Joe, who carries no government ID, controls her life, not even allowing a news photographer to take her picture at a book festival. When Rebecca asks about their family, he tells her that they are all dead. Rebecca, whose voice is precise and slightly formal, finds kinship in characters from literature. Inspired by her reading of Harriet the Spy, she eavesdrops and, à la Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, she appreciates the kindness of her adult neighbors—especially Mrs. Martino, the motherly Italian neighbor who loves to cook, and Phoebe, a reclusive movie star who encourages her to write down her story. Slowly, memories surface: Recollections of a bunny and a fascination with Audrey Hepburn lead her to ask questions that Joe will not answer. It is Rebecca’s initiative that ultimately leads to the resolution of this absorbing tale. This short novel deals with family dysfunction through the eyes of a young person through a central mystery that gradually unfurls.

Readers will rally behind the story’s determined and courageous protagonist. (recipe, author interview) (Fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews