Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/15/2017 Fifth-grader Jupiter and her family are free spirits, living life on the road and busking to put food in their mouths. But now her father has moved on like the rolling stone he’s always claimed to be, her older brother has elected to temporarily settle down, and seven-year old Edom, an adopted cousin from Ethiopia, has joined them in Portland, Oregon, while Edom’s mother undergoes chemo. Things are changing, and Jupiter is not thrilled, especially with the idea that her mother might be more interested in a family friend than reuniting with her dad. Readers may be surprised by Jupiter’s lifestyle (her upbringing makes free-range parenting look like bondage) and slightly bored by the book’s extended look—a subplot, really—at identifying edible plants and distinguishing them from weeds. Nor does Edom seem particularly Ethiopian. But there is tension as the girls formulate a plan to escape Portland that keeps the pages turning, and Jupiter has a fresh voice that extols being unburdened, even as the story shows her that sometimes adding is better than subtracting. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.