Things You Can’t Say by Jenn Bishop (review)

Twelve-year-old Drew has spent his summers volunteering at the library since his dad died by suicide three years ago. This summer, though, he finds he’s growing distant from his best friend Filipe and reluctantly developing a friendship (and maybe more) with Audrey, the new children’s department volunteer. On top of that, Mom’s high school friend Phil, a motorcycle-riding, early-morning exercise kind of guy who makes Mom blush, will be staying with them for a few days. Drew’s hurt and desperate for answers, but he’s not sure how, or to whom, he can talk about his feelings. With a deft, sympathetic hand, Bishop relates Drew’s struggles to define his own identity while coming to terms with the man his father was. Drew’s misguided quest to prove that Phil is his birth dad is a form of closure; he’s scared he might have inherited his father’s mental illness and worried that he, too, might be hiding potential to hurt the people he loves. While Phil isn’t Drew’s father, he turns out to be Dad’s best friend and Mom’s high school sweetheart; by drawing on memories, Bishop develops all three adults as characters without vilifying Drew’s father. That pays off when the time comes for difficult, honest conversations that respect Drew’s maturity but acknowledge the difficulties he’s experienced on being thrust into a situation he wasn’t emotionally prepared to face. The ending sets the scene for future healing, reminding readers young and old of the value of communication.