Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/01/2023 *Starred Review* A young girl feels adrift after the death of her mother. On a trip with her father to the family lake house, Faye’s spare, first-person narration speaks directly to her loss: “The wind is your voice. You whisper to me. I can’t understand what you are saying.” At the kitchen table there is a new distance and emptiness between Faye and her father. The complexity of grief is expressed with poetic economy: “The quiet is so loud.” Acutely sensing her mother’s absence inside the house, the child heads to the lake to seek solace in “Faye & Mama’s Mouseboat.” Out on the water, Faye deeply feels the enduring connection to her mother as she navigates her way through a thunderstorm as well as her own emotional maelstrom. Riding the roiling waves, the child’s words emphatically swirl across the page in capital letters: “YOU’RE HERE!” In Halpin’s expansive and atmospheric watercolor, colored-pencil, and digital illustrations, dark moody–blue backgrounds brighten into a warm orange-red montage of memories and comforting messages of “YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY. BE BRAVE. I LOVE YOU.” Returning home, Faye reconnects with her father and finds shelter in his loving, open arms. With sensitivity and immediacy, this prescient picture book charts a cathartic journey through grief to hope. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 11/17/2023 Gr 1–3—Grief is a complex and unpredictable experience, especially for children like Faye who have lost their mother. Life with dad is different in every way it seems, and Faye is desperate to hear her mother speak to her one more time. Though whispers come in the wind, Faye believes she will be closest to her mother on the boat they shared. But when a storm threatens her safety, Faye discovers both the strength within her and the love that awaits her on the shore. This emotional story paints grief in an honest, accessible way for children who find themselves living the unthinkable. Richly pigmented watercolor images echo the darkness consuming Faye's heart, while intricate details incorporate images of Faye's mother as frequently as she is in Faye's thoughts. Limited text is used in the story, and the appearance of this text changes in response to the intensity of Faye's emotions, which adds a dynamic visual layer to the storytelling. Whether readers have experienced dramatic loss in their own lives or not, this book serves both as a cathartic journey of acceptance and as a window into feelings that can be difficult to express. VERDICT This is an important addition to library collections for young people, especially because it focuses on the challenging emotion of grief within an approachable context.—Mary R. Lanni - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.