Book Description
for The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Jade has learned that watching the elephant cam from the nearby zoo is a great mechanism to calm her anxiety when it flares. Diagnosed with Panic Disorder, Jade is never sure when an attack will strike, and she has to work hard to keep it from consuming her life. It’s while watching the elephants on her bedroom computer that she first sees a teenage boy carrying a baby. Jade manages to meet the mystery duo, and soon finds herself falling hard for Sebastian and his young son, Bo. When she discovers that Sebastian has not been entirely truthful in his account of how he ended up as Bo’s primary caretaker, Jade must grapple with difficult decisions about what is fair and what is right, weighing her feelings and thoughts against the possibility of hurting someone she loves. While Sebastian’s backstory lacks some believability, this is more than compensated by artful observations and a moving, powerful portrayal of a teen dealing with a disabling anxiety disorder. (Age 14 and older)
CCBC Choices 2008. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2008. Used with permission.