Benway, Robin.
FAR FROM THE TREE
New York : HarperTeen, 2017
IL YA
ISBN 978-0-06-233062-8

(4 booktalks)

Booktalk #1

Winner of the 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Far from the Tree is so good and nearly impossible to put down. It’s the story of three siblings who discover each other as teenagers. You’re going to love every page of this heartwarming, funny, and inspiring novel, especially if you like to explore characters deeply and if you enjoy emotional stories about families and relationships. Also, if you want a good cry, this book is for you. Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2018-2019

Booktalk #2

Grace always figured she’d attend Homecoming just like everyone else -- have pictures taken, wear a fancy dress and dance with her boyfriend. Instead she spends Homecoming at the hospital giving birth to her daughter. She knows she not ready to be a mom and the most loving thing she can do for her baby is to find her the best possible home. What Grace didn’t anticipate was how empty she’d feel afterward. So empty, in fact, she decides it’s time to seek out her own birth mother, someone who might understand what she’s going through. But, instead of her bio mom, Grace finds a sister, Maya, and a brother, Joaquin. Maya was adopted by a different family and Joaquin’s been bounced around the foster care system most of his life. Being blood related doesn’t mean they instantly feel like family, that will take time and the ability to work through the baggage they each bring to the table. They begin to understand that family can mean a lot of different things, and for them, now that they have found each other, there are “no returns, no backsies”. Told from all three points of view, you will fall in love with these amazing siblings. You’ll want, no need, to read this beautiful story in one sitting!
(Kirsten Gunn, Highline High School https://evergreenbookaward.org/)

Booktalk #3

A National Book Award Finalist, Robin Benway writes a beautiful story about three teenagers who are all connected by the same mother but have never met. After adopted-at-birth Grace puts her own child up for adoption, she begins a search to find her biological mother. Grace discovers she has both an older and younger sibling. Grace's biological younger sister Maya is sassy and gay, and she loves her adopted family until secrets and addictions begin to consume. It is then that she becomes curious about her biological roots. Grace's biological older brother Joaquin is not the warm fuzzy type, and he has bounced all around the foster care system. He is living with a very caring and loving couple, but Joaquin does not have any interest in getting adopted. He keeps everyone at a distance until he meets his biological sisters, and then they slowly chip away at the wall he has built up. The chapters rotate between siblings exploring their connected stories. Robin Benway writes a remarkable book about family and all of the love, hurt, and hope that can come with it. (Georgia Peach Book Award, 2020)

Booktalk #4

Grace is an AP student and has never been in trouble until she becomes pregnant at 16. She feels that giving the baby up for adoption is the right thing to do but struggles with worrying whether she has chosen the right family for her little girl or not. Grace decides that she needs to do something she never thought she would do: find her birth family. She discovers that she has not only one but two siblings. A younger sister and an older brother. Maya was adopted at birth. A short spunky brunette, she has never felt like she completely fits in with her tall red headed family. When her parents tell her that her older sister wants to contact her she isn’t sure how to feel about it. She doesn’t even know this girl but when her mother’s dark secret comes to light having older siblings might be helpful. Joaquin was taken from his mother when he was a year old. Even though he came close a couple times, he has never been adopted. He spent his childhood jumping from foster family to foster family. He is happy with the couple he lives with now, but how long is that going to last? When his birth sisters contact him, he can’t help but be interested in having family. But what if he ruins their lives with his dark past? Three teens with very different lives come together because of their shared genetic history. How will discovering that you are not alone change your life? Will it be for the better or just make everything harder? (Prepared by: Jessica Nuckolls, Orangeburg County Library, Jnuckolls@orangeburgcounty.org for South Carolina Book Award)