The unnamed narrator takes care of his mother, he watches her moods, counts her pills, and enjoys when she seems stable and they do things together. He knows that his mom got pregnant from a sperm donor who was a Nobel prize winner. His mother expects him to be gifted at something like science and he’s not; like her, he’s good at art. This contributes to the difficulties in his life because he feels like he is disappointing her and she always seems so sad. His mother’s second suicide attempt sends her to the hospital and the friends who had been helping him cover for his mom’s mental illness know they can’t help any longer. A social worker finds the grandparents he never knew and he learns the truth about his father. I'm not sure what teens this would appeal to besides those who like problem novels. Positive reviews in Booklist, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly. ( )

Review from library copy

This had the twist I thought Pearl by Jo Knowles was going to have. Interesting to see a parent's mental illness through the eyes of a son. We never know how old he is. We never know where he is. I don't think we even learn his name. ( )

Decent book but not really good. The boy narrator (no name or age) lives with his mentally ill mother. She has always told him that his father was a Nobel prize winner who donated his sperm to a sperm bank, but eventually he discovers that this is not true. His mother is so ill, though, that he really cares for him rather than the other way around and she can't tell him the truth -- and may not know it anymore, anyway. Her eventual overdose leads him to many hidden secrets. ( )