Articles liés à Hugging the Rock

Hugging the Rock - Couverture souple

Brown, Susan Taylor

 
9781582462363: Hugging the Rock

Synopsis

Book by Brown Susan Taylor

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Extrait

No Room

When my mom decides to run away from home
she packs up her car
with all the things that matter most
to her.

Her guitar
and some books
all her CDs
her clothes
her shoes
Grandma’s music box from the fireplace mantle
and the quilt from the bed she shares with Dad.

She jams plastic grocery bags
filled with soap and shampoo
into the small spaces
left in between things
and ties a couple of suitcases to the roof.
At the last minute she
throws in a few dishes
some towels
and a potted red geranium
that guards the front porch.

Dad tells her not to pack stuff too high
so she can still see out the back window
but she ignores him
and shoves her pillow
between her guitar case and the portable TV.

By the time she’s done
there’s no room left for anything else.
No room left for Dad.

And no room left for me.
The Wrong Answers

When I ask her why she’s leaving
she finds lots of ways
to not answer me.

She yanks photos from the albums
and dumps out her purse on the kitchen table
then puts everything back in it again.
She unloads the dishwasher
just like any other day.

“Why do you have to go?”

Because I can’t stay.

“Why?”

She paces
arms swinging wildly
trapped
like a bee in a jar.

I don’t belong here anymore.

“If you’re not supposed to be here
where are you supposed to be?”

I don’t know, Rachel.
I just don’t know.


“Why can’t I go with you?”

You just can’t.
Later
yes later
maybe after I get settled
but now
now you need to stay here
you have to stay with your dad
it will all be fine
even better than fine, I bet.

I don’t mean to,
but I snort
and she slams her hand down
on the kitchen table.

I jump.

I can’t do this anymore, Rachel!

I wonder
if she took her pills this morning
then I glance at the bottle
near the coffee pot
and she catches me looking.

Yes, she says.
But sometimes they don’t work.

And then she starts to cry.

Présentation de l'éditeur

What do you do when your mom runs away from home?
Rachel retreats into herself--away from the father who has always kept his distance, away from school, and away from her best friend. Rachel’s mom says that her dad is a rock, the good kind you can always count on. But Rachel doesn’t even know if he really loves her. And she doesn’t know the secrets he’s kept since before she was born. Slowly, over time, Rachel grows close to the parent who stayed and comes to understand the truth of why her mom left.

This bittersweet story of loss and revelation reveals the powerful and complex bond between fathers and daughters.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.