SHOOT THE MOON

A teenager struggling to care for her dad, who has bipolar disorder, has hard choices to make when he disappears.

In this accessibly written story that centers on the emotional costs of trying to take on too much responsibility, Charlie Abbott is thrown into a panic when her father vanishes—and she realizes he’s stopped taking his medications. Following his trail leads Charlie from Toronto to a campsite deep in the woods while at the same time plunging her into a perfect storm of conflicting feelings. She’s reluctantly forced to call on both Lachlan Tomic, her crush from school, and her mom, who’d given up on and left Charlie’s dad, for help. She also discovers that both of her divorced parents have been keeping shocking secrets from her. Charlie’s frantic search for clues to where Dad might have gone culminates in a canoe trip that’s marked by mishaps and that parallels an inner journey that leaves her ready, by the time the neat resolution arrives, to make changes in her life that turn out to leave her, her mother, and even her father happier. Beam leaves readers with food for thought about the roles they should—and perhaps should not—be expected to take within their families. He concludes with teen helplines in the U.S. and Canada. Main characters are cued white.

An absorbing, intensely felt, occasionally scary novel that will hook reluctant readers.