Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading Level: Late Elementary, Middle School

Warning: Spoiler alerts!  

Wendy Mass brings up some tough issues in this graphic novel. An only child struggles through her family being broken up (her mother is missing). Near the end we learn she left because she fell into prescription drug abuse, and later forgery of prescriptions and sales. The main character, Addie, blames her dad and herself. 

At the end, we see the mom is released from prison and they are learning to be a family again. Nevertheless, throughout the novel Addie struggles with feeling abandoned and misunderstood. She often pushes away her Dad’s best efforts to connect and cheer her up.

The other main focus is Addie’s introduction to virtual reality (VR) & learning how to responsibly use it and find innovative ways to help others through it. At first, she enjoys the escape & neglects her only friend, lying to him to try to get more time alone in VR. The good news is that she doesn’t hide her VR use from her dad, who is a VR researcher & enthusiast.

A few other potential concerns:

– there is a college couple that gets in a fight & then makes up; we see a bit of smooching on a park bench. (See below)

 – a surfer dude who studies VR under the dad is pictured below & is positioned as a bit of a heart throb. He is objectified a couple times.

Suggested parent supervision:

It would be good to chat with your kid about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. Also, chat about how Addie neglects her friend to play in VR. A good discussion about what boundaries might be good & how VR can help (e.g., the chemo patients). Finally, if your kid is missing a parent (incarceration or separation), pushing away attempts from parents to connect, is boy-crazy or overemphasizes romantic love, this could have a trigger.