Rosie Colored Glasses

In Wolfson’s moving debut, fifth grader Willow adores her free-spirited mother Rosie, who breaks her out of school for spontaneous outings and treats her and her little brother, Asher, to pizza nights and enthusiastic reenactments of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Their father, Rex, who by comparison is inflexible and strict, can’t compete with Rosie’s freewheeling personality, and Willow, who is bullied at school for her clumsiness and her kinky, wild hair, craves Rosie’s love. But as Rosie’s behavior shifts from goofy and fun to increasingly erratic, her addiction to prescription drugs puts her children in danger, and Rex, brokenhearted, insists she get help, setting off a tragic series of events. Wolfson intertwines Willow’s story with the tale of Rex and Rosie’s unusual courtship 12 years prior and the fierce love between them that eventually, and inevitably, gives way to divorce. Willow’s pain amid the push and pull of her parents is palpable, and, following the divorce, Rex realizes that he must change in order to save his family. Wolfson’s novel about the devastating effects of mental illness and prescription drug addiction is, at times, overly earnest, but the hopeful message about love’s transformative power will resonate with readers. (Feb.)