Life in the Balance by Jen Petro-Roy (review)

Petro-Roy, Jen Life in the Balance. Feiwel, 2021 [272p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250619730 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250619747 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 4-6

Veronica, like her mother and grandmother and great-grandmother, is dedicated to the softball diamond, and this is the year she's in the running for a spot on an elite softball travel team. This is emphatically not the time for her mother to admit to being an alcoholic and check into rehab for two months. Veronica explodes with all the petulance of a sixth grader under pressure; of course she's heard her parents' fights; of course she's suffered from her mother's sporadic neglect; of course she's onboard with her mother's well-being and peace at home. But now? As Veronica grapples with—and often refuses to grapple with—understanding alcoholism as a disease rather than a choice, she drops the ball on her best friend Claudia's travails with her parents' divorce, and she exacerbates her father's distress over family finances, which force him to take a second job and may render Veronica's travel team dreams a moot point. Petro-Roy's novel is heartfelt, and the reactions of mother, father, daughter, and neglected friend are realistic. Authorial scripting is constantly on display, though, from lengthy heart-to-hearts that explicate alcoholism, to the neat availability of a new friend who attends a children of alcoholics support group, to Veronica's singing talent, which offers both a low-cost Plan B if she can't do softball and a beeline straight to the feel-terrific conclusion. There's still plenty of honesty here, however, and much to cheer for as Veronica settles into understanding her family challenge and how to meet it.