I Don't Live Here Anymore

The resilient narrator at the center of Kreslehner's potent novel, originally published in Germany, offers a strong take on the familiar struggles that can accompany divorce. Fourteen-year-old Charlotte repeatedly visits her old, idyllic home in the country after she, her mother, and her siblings move into her grandmother's cramped rowhouse, in response to her father's affair with his secretary. Charlotte's parents' chaos overflows into her life as she is forced to care for her brothers and is held back a year at school. Kreslehner strongly sketches Charlotte's despair, anger, and powerlessness in the face of the divorce. However, even though the foundation of her old life shatters further as her father's new wife has a baby and her mother moves the family once again, Charlotte's own relationships become more central as she gains a new best friend, becomes the object of a love triangle, and eventually embarks on a romance with an Italian boy named Carlo. It's a memorable portrait of a maturing teenager coping and thriving in the face of domestic upheaval. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Oct.)