Recovery Road

Recovery Road by Blake Nelson

ISBN: 9780545107297
New York:  Scholastic Press, 2011

Plot - Madeline, or Maddie, is 16 years old and deeply addicted to alcohol and drugs, has driven a car into a ditch, and finally landed in rehab at a place called Spring Meadow.  Maddie also has a severe temper, another reason her parents decided she needed intensive professional help.  She spends the requisite 28 days in rehab, hating the boredom, hating most of the other "inmates," but finally making a friend in a girl named Trish who seems to understand where Maddie is coming from.  On a weekly trip to the movies sponsored by Spring Meadows, Maddie meets Stewart, a tall, beautiful boy also in rehab.   By the end of her stay, Maddie is dried out and seems to be "getting" some of what her counselors are telling her is important, and moves into a halfway house that she hates.  But she meets Stewart on a sponsored weekly movie night, and the two fall in love.  Maddie vows to wait for him while he finishes his stint in rehab.  She moves back home before long and struggles through "reentry" back into school and everyday American life, though nothing about it is everyday.  Maddie begins to move forward through the difficulties and eventually is admitted to college.  Things around her, though, do not go as she dearly wishes they would and when her worst fears are realized she is left to choose her future stability or her current happiness.

Critical Evaluation - Recovery Road takes the reader right along with Maddie, who narrates, as she moves unevenly through the stages of shedding addiction.  Maddie is completely realized as a character, as is Stewart, and only to a slightly lesser degree, Trish, although we see less of her.  She is a tough character and Nelson pulls no punches in delivering her to us with all her dark intensity.  Stewart is equally real and sympathetic, and therefore equally, if not more, maddening in his frail humanity.  The plot moves at a quick pace, drawing the reader through even the most painful scenes until the climax when things slow down perhaps a bit too early in relation to how much of the book is left.  The depiction of drug and alcohol addiction is painted in all its non-glory.  There is nothing glamorous or exciting about the suffering these kids endure at their own hands, including violence, terror, and excruciating pain.  The story is ultimately hopeful and heartbreaking.

Reader's annotation - Maddie just might make it if she plays her cards right, but when her boyfriend is just a bit behind her on the road to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, she has to choose whether to wait for him or be sure to arrive safely at the beginning of the rest of her own life.
Genre - YA realistic fiction
Curriculum Ties - Perhaps sections could be used in health classes for older teenagers discussing
Booktalk ideas - 

1. Read from the scene where Maddie is falling for Stewart.  Begin on pg. 45 with "I try not to stare at Stewart" and end on pg. 47 with "No," he says, "That might be ok."
2. Maddie tries to hold on to someone she loves while he pulls her back into a world that was killing her.  How can she make such a choice?  Is there a way she might be able to keep what she wants and be healthy, or does it always have to be one or the other?

Reading level - 15+ for an attempted rape scene, heavy drug and alcohol content, and harsh language and personal issues.

Challenge issues -drugs, alcohol, attempted rape.  However, commonsensemedia.org rates the book as a 15+ read and does not advise parents to keep their teenagers away, largely because the message is so clearly that these behaviors cause awful suffering and are in no way worth the initial fun.

Challenge defense ideas:

• Librarian must read the book carefully and include it as a resource intended for older teens.
• Librarian greets students and regularly discusses their reading choices; she provides individualized, age-appropriate guidance in book choice.
• Explain the ways in which the librarian accompanies and guides younger students looking for books, and knows students well as individuals. 

Why I included this book - Without ever preaching or condescending, Nelson portrays his character's painful journey toward recovery with sympathy and great respect.  The book is an important one for young adults in many different situations, including those who might be moving into drug and alcohol abuse, those who know someone who is, or those who simply are curious as to what really happens in rehab.