Everything’s Not Fine

Rose Hemmersbach is a seventeen-year-old artist biding her time until she finishes high school, when she can escape her small town to learn art at a real college. But her dreams–and her life–are shattered the day her little family secret breaks free in a huge, scary way. Rose’s mother is a heroin addict, and an overdose leads to a whole new series of life complications, including eviction, Child Protective Services, and younger siblings struggling to process the trauma. Is this the end of Rose’s dreams of art school? Does she even want her mom to come home again?

Sarah J. Carlson’s new novel breaks into some scary topics, but this story reflects real life for far too many young adult readers, making it more important than ever for subjects like this to be explored. Rose is a complicated character: struggling artist with big dreams, older sister who has taken on the role of “mother” for far too long, dutiful daughter who helps hold the family together, and teenager with all the same types of hopes and dreams as any other child her age. This book is not an easy read, but it’s compelling and hard to put down.