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A review by islandgeekgirl
Where I Live by Brenda Rufener
4.0
This book was a quick read exploring a topic I haven't seen too much in YA books, at least to this extreme. It followed Linden, a high school student who was homeless and living in the school as much as she could. She had a system down and if she didn't follow it, it could mean the difference between sleeping somewhere in the school and getting stuck outside for the night. She had her two best friends, a notebook to keep track of her debts, and she was determined to graduate and go to college. Her life and the lives of her two best friends ended up getting tangled up with a trio of popular kids, which Linden feared would expose her secret.
Linden was a very determined, goal-oriented character. She didn't want to be a burden on anyone so she kept a tally of anything she took and found ways to pay it back. She was always careful about how she presented herself so as not to draw attention so teachers or parents wouldn't start asking questions. The riskiest thing she allowed herself was the friendship of her two best friends, Ham and Seung. Those three together were amazing. Seung was the more serious one and Ham was the comedian. The three of them had their differences at times but they were so clearly meant to be a group.
When her group started to clash with Bea's group, it brought more attention to Linden and she kept trying to stay away from it. She was resistant to getting involved at first. Bea clearly didn't want Linden around her, it broke so many of Linden's rules that kept her safe, but they kept getting pushed together. It provided some interesting dynamics between the two groups.
Overall, I thought this book did a great job highlighting the issue of youth homelessness and how easily overlooked it can be. It had really interesting character dynamics, which I will always like, and it had growth for so many characters without distracting from the main character's arc.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Linden was a very determined, goal-oriented character. She didn't want to be a burden on anyone so she kept a tally of anything she took and found ways to pay it back. She was always careful about how she presented herself so as not to draw attention so teachers or parents wouldn't start asking questions. The riskiest thing she allowed herself was the friendship of her two best friends, Ham and Seung. Those three together were amazing. Seung was the more serious one and Ham was the comedian. The three of them had their differences at times but they were so clearly meant to be a group.
When her group started to clash with Bea's group, it brought more attention to Linden and she kept trying to stay away from it. She was resistant to getting involved at first. Bea clearly didn't want Linden around her, it broke so many of Linden's rules that kept her safe, but they kept getting pushed together. It provided some interesting dynamics between the two groups.
Overall, I thought this book did a great job highlighting the issue of youth homelessness and how easily overlooked it can be. It had really interesting character dynamics, which I will always like, and it had growth for so many characters without distracting from the main character's arc.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.