The Survival Kit (review)

The death of Rose's mother has left sixteen-year-old Rose utterly shattered, unable to face anything she'd formerly enjoyed, such as her cheerleading or her relationship—especially her sexual relationship—with her beloved boyfriend, Chris, with whom she breaks up. Upon finding a bag entitled "Rose's Survival Kit," left by her mother, she attempts to work her way through grief according to her mother's symbolic messages. Her first task, planting peonies, brings her closer to Will, a quiet schoolmate who works for a landscaper and who also lost a parent not long ago; soon her relationship with Will has blossomed into romance, but can it survive when Rose is still so wounded? While the grief is handled tenderly, the point is here is less the bereavement than the romance—it's just a relationship measured by its redemptive qualities. Rose and Will's growing love is movingly depicted, and there's a pleasant absence of villainizing of exes. However, the family story is less successful, with Rose's alcoholic father apparently deciding to quit cold turkey, and with nobody ever thinking to suggest counseling to Rose or her family; secondary characters tend to be more convenient than vivid, and poor old Chris never really gets credit for stepping in to support Rose when Will bails on her. Rabb's Cures for Heartbreak (BCCB 4/07) is a more effective story of maternal loss, but readers looking for an emotional romance salted with plenty of tears will still respond to Rose's journey.