WHERE WE USED TO ROAM

Emma’s happy life starts to fall apart when her older brother is injured and prescribed opioid painkillers.

As sixth grade begins, Emma is excited to make new friends that really get her. While she navigates the pitfalls of new and old friendships, she also finds out that her brother, Austin, is addicted to opioids. Bishop combines a coming-of-age story with an issue story, creating a novel that teaches lessons without being preachy and honestly depicts the confusion, fear, and anger that arise when a sibling struggles with substance abuse. This book contains valuable lessons about both friendship and drug addiction, but they could bear to be stated more plainly. Much of Emma’s emotional growth is shown and not told, with the result that her later understanding, for example of her brother’s struggle, is not stated as clearly as her earlier feelings that he selfishly did not care about his family. While this may make the book more readable, depending on readers’ maturity and awareness, they may benefit from further discussing the issues with teachers or guardians. Though the story ends on a positive note, there is no unrealistically neat happy ending. The author instead offers a brief and engaging introduction to the disease model of addiction and the benefits of medication-assisted treatment. Main characters are cued as White.

An enjoyable book that is a starting point for young readers to understand the opioid crisis.