15 Days Without a Head

April 15, 2013
Life’s not easy for 15-year-old Laurence Roach: his mother’s a barely-functioning alcoholic who works two jobs to scrape by; his six-year-old brother, Jay, acts like a dog; and Laurence is responsible for taking care of them both, which is exhausting. Laurence puts his hope in winning a lavish vacation by participating in a radio trivia contest, pretending to be his long-dead father. When Laurence’s mother doesn’t come home one day, he goes to desperate lengths to keep anyone from noticing that he and his brother are alone. But how long can he juggle responsibilities amid the lies and schemes? In his first novel (originally published in 2012 in the U.K.), British author Cousins offers a compelling story of Laurence’s struggles, with the darker subject matter balanced out by humorous undertones (such as Laurence’s ill-advised cross-dressing efforts at one point). There are no easy answers, only a sympathetic and painfully realistic look at how alcoholism affects families, set against Laurence’s semi-comical, semi-tragic escapades. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sarah Manson, Sarah Manson Literary Agency.

April 1, 2013
A teenager holds his crumbling family life together in this finely crafted debut that strikes a delicate balance between humor and pathos. Most evenings, 15-year-old Laurence and his brother Jay tread lightly around the "force-field of cigarette smoke and booze, with our mum inside" that dominates their roach-infested flat. When his depressed, overworked mother disappears, Laurence protects 6-year-old Jay from his suspicion that she's not coming back. He knows better than to seek adult help, and for two weeks, living on toast, they manage to avoid their nosy next-door neighbor, Nelly. Laurence hopes that winning a radio trivia contest will solve their problems. With Jay at his side pretending to be Scooby-Doo, he pieces together clues to their mother's whereabouts. A growing sense of urgency permeates the book, effectively shown in a chapter-heading countdown from "Whensday" and "Blursday" to "Tattersday" and "Doomsday." This is countered by Laurence's delightful new friend, Mina, who sees through Laurence's often-hilarious actions. She gently cajoles him to tell her what's happening when he's ready, and with her steady presence, she helps him to see reasons not to give up on his mother. There are no quick fixes or easy answers in a novel in which it's a given that life together is better than life apart, no matter how dysfunctional that life is. Expect good things from this new voice in teen fiction. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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October 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-Laurence Roach is convinced that the solution to all of his problems lies with winning a luxury holiday getaway for his family from local radio show Baz's Bedtime Bonanza. What else is going to make Mum happy enough to stop drinking? Being 15, he can't win it outright, so he's been using his deceased dad's name. Night after night, Laurence is getting the trivia right and advancing through the game when all of a sudden his mother doesn't come home from work. It's up to Laurence to take care of himself and his little brother, figure out where Mum went, avoid nosy neighbors who will probably report them to child services, and keep coming up with the right answers for Baz's trivia questions. The story is attention-grabbing and heartstring-tugging, offering a truncated but important view into the life of a struggling family. However, the Roaches' story comes to a happy and tidy ending, following a very undramatic explanation of Mum's absence. An emotional read with too little payoff.-Emily Moore, Camden County Library System, NJ

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