Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

Pages: 375

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Contemporary / Family Drama

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature scenes.

The Back Cover

Katie is seventeen and in love with someone whose identity she’s afraid to reveal. Caroline, Katie’s mother is uptight, worn out, and about to find the past catching up with her. Mary, Katie’s grandmother, suffers from Alzheimer’s and suddenly appears after years of mysterious absence.

As Katie cares for an elderly woman who brings daily chaos to her life, she finds herself drawn to the grandmother she never knew she had. Rules get broken as allegiances shift. Is Mary contagious? Is “badness” genetic? In confronting the past, Katie is forced to seize the present. As Mary slowly unravels and family secrets are revealed, Katie learns to live and finally dares to love.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is a Stonewall Honor Book, made Entertainment Weekly’s Must List, and was named Best Book of the Year by both Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. It was also a BookPage Best Teen Book of the Year, an iBooks Best Book of the Month, and shortlisted for both the YA Book Prize and People’s Book Prize.

What’s good?

This is the story of three generations of women forced to confront the past when Caroline and her daughter, Katie, must take in Caroline’s mother, Mary, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Katie sets out to unravel the mystery of her mother’s and grandmother’s tenuous relationship. Choices, consequences, misunderstandings, and secrets are tendrils that run through the lives of all three women. Stories of Mary’s misspent, seemingly carefree youth is juxtaposed with Caroline’s rigid parenting. The characters are well-drawn and realistic with genuine emotions. There is tenderness, anger, frustration, pain, and joy in their search for understanding and reconciliation. Most chapters are short and the pace is even. The ending is gratifying.

Best Part: Mary.

What isn’t good?

It’s slow. Don’t expect any action or even high drama. The story is more like real life with moderate ups and downs, sporadic bouts of anger and frustration, and the occasional heart stopping moment that eventually ends well. Katie was a great character – she was brilliant with Mary—but became a strange, hot mess with Esme and Simona.

Worst part: Caroline’s refusal to recognize Mary’s condition was frustrating.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻☻ (3/5)

It’s painful to watch someone with Alzheimer’s, and the author portrays Mary’s struggle with the disease with grace and accuracy. The complex relationship between the three women is fascinating to watch unfold. This story doesn’t have the feel of a typical young adult story, but is nonetheless a value addition to the genre. Recommended.

Downham, Jenny. Unbecoming. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2017.