Abby Lunde is a 17 year old girl who becomes homeless after her parents problems, nothing dramatic, just the loss of a job and other relatable issues.

Abby starts a new school and tries her best to fit in and doesn’t want anyone to know that she and her family are living in their car.

The book shows the reality of being homeless, the support, such as it is, for people who find themselves in such awful circumstances. The fears that Abby feels, not only where her next meal is coming from, but of the stigma of being found out. While this does have a nice happy ending, it does touch a raw emotion, as in difficult economic times many people are just one missed payday from this situation. A very thoughtful, emotional read. Great writing.

I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

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Being a teenager is hard enough but when your mum is responsible for your world turning upside down - can you forgive her? Abby and Amber are made to not only change houses and schools but also completely leave behind their old lives when their mum commits a cardinal sin. Amber is a sassy but somewhat unaware 6 year old but Abby? She’s a struggling 17 year old having to grow up before she needs to. Set in a high school environment we have the classic characters: the jock, the queen bee, the class clown and the ‘odd one out’ or ‘pretender’. But can this upheaval be the best thing that has happen to Abby and her family?

What a beautiful piece of writing. Such an emotional story. Get a box of tissues ready. Strong characters and story line.
It’s a book that you will almost certainly get hooked.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Let me start with a quote "Anger flows like hot lava' That was the whole comparison, not 'flows like hot lave, slowly demolishing everything in its path. or something poetic, just blunt and without description or context.

Fantastic premise, but for me, this book has quite a forced feel.

I really loved this story. It has the basic theme of a YA book - girl meets boy, she has a secret, it causes a problem between them.... But her secret is that she's homeless. And the homelessness plot is tackled with such sympathy and concern. It's clear that the author researched it well and really considered all the different ways it might be a problem for Abby and her family. Abby wants to be a normal teen and she meets great friends and a nice, cute boy.

The school is really cooperative and understanding. The whole plotline is just handled really well. It's just a great book, without being preachy or like a PSA/hallmark movie. This is another book that I plan to give to my teenage nieces when it's eventually released.

This one really hit me hard. I found Abby to be a complex character that I really cared about. The only criticism I have is that there was a lot of dialogue. It seemed unnecessary at times.

I really liked this book. Its realism even made me cry. Even so, I thought the perfect contrast between the protagonist's former and current friends was a little too perfect. Also, is everyone in Minnesota really that nice?
Still, it's a good book on an underserved topic that will make readers think about how close they may be to losing everything themselves.

4.5*

This was a YA book but not a romance, it was a story of life. It was good to read something different but completely engaging. Abby and her family were homeless and this book deals with how they cope. The tribulations of the family were not for the weak and they went through a lot. All the time they displayed their inner strength. Abby meets new friends at school (and a rather lovely BF) who show her what true friends are. There is the typical high school nemesis but in a way what she does, though unforgivable, does help Abby.

I really enjoyed this debut from this author and look forward to more from her. I would even like to read more about Abby, her family and friends.

Life is tough as a teenager and even tougher when you and your family have to live in a van. Abby and her family had to leave their home due to mistake made by her mom. Losing jobs and having tarnished reputations, the only choice they have is to move and start over. However, it is hard for Abby's parents to find jobs so they have to live in their van. Abby struggles to adjust to a new high school and friends all the while trying to keep her situation secret. She just wants to be normal and pretending so lets her ignore the pain. A touching, heart warming story, Abby learns that everyone is not as judgmental as she thinks and are willing to lend a hand.

Warning! This book may make you cry!

When you think of the homeless, the stereotypical images of rough sleepers come to mind. This is far from the reality for most homeless families.

17 year old Abby Lunde and her family find themselves homeless. Having lost their jobs, and been evicted from their home, the Lunde family pack up their essentials into the back of a van and head off to Minnesota for a fresh start. With very few resources they are reliant on charity organisations and their own tenacity for survival.

Abby is a typical teenage girl - trying to settle into a new school, making friends and applying for college. The difference is that she sleeps in a van, uses the Walmart bathrooms to wash in and relies on soup kitchens for her evening meals. As the winter draws in and work is hard to find things are looking pretty desperate for the Lundes.

This book is incredibly realistic. You can see how quickly like unravels for the family as mistakes and tensions are revealed.

As Abby succeeds at school, making some amazing friends, and a dangerous enemy, and falling for the star of the football team, her troubles are never far from her mind.

There are parts of this book that are just heart breaking and so well written. It's book that has so many positive messages about resilience, forgiveness and empathy. There are strong, healthy relationships and characters that break stereotypes.

I absolutely loved this book and will definitely recommending it to my students.

Thanks C. H. Armstrong, Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Beautiful and heart-wrenching. A much needed addition about homelessness for the classroom library shelves.

This is a story about a girl who has seemingly lost everything. Her friends, her home, her old life. It’s quite rare to see the realities of homelessness written about, let alone with the focus being on a young girl so this was a refreshing read.

This book hooked me from the start with its realistic dialogue and representation of family dynamics. The relationship between the family members is one that many young readers could identify with and it's refreshing that the stepfather isn't the bogeyman as they so often are in Young Adult literature. Throughout the book there were examples of interesting, fleshed out characters that made some attempt at representing diversity without feeling shoehorned in the narrative for the sake of it.

From an educator's point of view, this book offers a number of thought-provoking themes to explore; the liberating power of forgiveness, the need for humanity and empathy in our daily lives and the shocking ease in which our modern, comfortable lives can fall apart in an instant.

Reading this novel there were many things reading this novel that, based on previous Young Adult novels, I expected would happen which thankfully didn't. This is a testament to the skill of the author in presenting a story different from the norm. My only (small) criticisms would be that the villain of the story is a little cliché. We've seen this girl many times in Young Adult literature and maybe it's time to give this character a rest. I think the story itself could have managed without her, as surely the real villain is the lack of safety net that exists for families fallen upon hard times. The pop culture references, although identifiable to the contemporary reader, will quickly age which could impact the novel’s usefulness were it to be an assigned reading text in schools. The main character can every so often begin to wander down the path towards Mary Sue territory but thankfully doesn't quite make it there.

Overall, this was a refreshing and thought provoking read which I would absolutely recommend to young people and to educators as a means of introducing the topic of homelessness and social injustice and inequality.

A haunting story that kept me turning pages way later into the night than I wanted. The puffy eyes are totally worth it, however. Armstrong hit hard with her debut, and I can't wait for her next work!

Book review: Roam by C. H. Armstrong
Publication date: February 5, 2019
Read courtesy of NetGalley.com

In spite of the serious nature of homeless families, this is a warm fuzzy, feel good, happy ending kind of story. With a new boyfriend too good to be true and an instant flock of new friends, teenage Abby allows her homelessness to color her daily life (but who could blame her?). None of the people in her new school know that her family's "house" is a van or a church basement, and Abby tries desperately to keep it that way. The difficulty Abby has keeping her secret is exasperated by her new neighborhood -- an uber-rich area near the Mayo Clinic -- a jealous ex-girlfriend, and a homecoming dance.

With a fairy tale, full-of-forgiveness ending, readers might feel the story tied together too neatly, but it was refreshing to read a story where there really was a plausible ending. Well, believable if the readers accept a school where teachers and counselors are helpful and caring, where the hottest guy in school is also always a gentleman, where everyone accepts the out-of-the-closet gay kid, and where people still want to date the class bitch.

I chose to believe, and I had a great time doing so. Because of this, I am able to give the story 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The story was tight and left me with no questions. I thought the characters were well drawn out, and the plot flowed naturally. I recommend this book for anyone who sees silver linings and is able to put aside skepticism.

This is a fantastic piece of realistic fiction for people who want to know what it's like to live in someone else's shoes. The characters are created in a variety of ways and remind me a lot of Joan Bauer type novels. The storyline is strong and readers will not be disappointed. I'm already talking this title up to my 7th grade students. This would also be a good text to use with Memory Moments (Notice & Notice Fiction Signpost) and flashback!

This book would be an excellent assigned reading book for teens and pre-teens. I work in a community where many families are living out of cars or a single room, so the concept of homelessness and being stuck in a cycle of poverty is all too familiar to many of the people who frequent my library.

This book was very formulaic; however, this can be viewed as a positive attribute considering its targeted audience. The simplicity of the book puts it at an appropriate reading level for kids in Jr. High and High School and makes it more broadly relatable. It demonstrates that poverty does not always wear the face you expect, and it is not always evident when people are facing extreme hardships. I also appreciate that this book teaches empathy. For readers that can closely relate to Abby’s struggles, this book will show them that they are not alone and there are resources available to help them get through difficult times. I will absolutely be recommending this book to teachers and students who come into my library.

This is a really different, engaging book that tells the story of a homeless teenager and her family in a honest and relatable way. The characters felt true to life and the story didn't feel unnecessarily dramatic, you could see how these events could have happened. I think this is an important read for both teenagers and adults that gives lessons on how we consider others, empathy, and that none of us are untouchable. A read that will stay with me.

C.H. Armstrong’s YA novel Roam deals with the plight of the Lunde family who, through a series of spiralling events, find themselves homeless. The story is narrated by eighteen year old Abby, who tells us that ‘My home is with my family, which means my home is currently the back of Mom’s van.’ Tasks such as getting ready for bed require almost military organisation and planning to avoid raising suspicions as to the family’s situation. ‘THERE ARE COUNTLESS things I never imagined about being homeless—so many things I’d taken for granted. Like having a bathroom available in the middle of the night, running water to brush my teeth, and even a mirror to judge whether my clothes look okay. All of these things are a luxury when your home is your vehicle. Maybe worst of all is the lack of privacy, especially for dressing.’. Abby’s anger and frustration at the lack of control she has over the situation her family is in is palpable, her desire to make friends and ‘fit in’ at school and her love and protection of her little sister combine to make her a sympathetic and believable narrator.

Readers, in particular young adult readers whom the book is aimed at, get a real sense of the desperation, isolation and feeling of helplessness the family are experiencing. Indeed the central theme of the novel is simple, ‘You have no idea what someone else is going through until you’ve lived it—until you put yourself in their shoes...’

In Roam we have Abby Lunde, a 17 year old girl who becomes homeless with her little sister, mother and step-father. They had a normal life in their previous town but Abby’s mother made a mistake which leaves their lives crashing around them. Abby is ostracised and her mother loses her job. Her step-father is let go and they lose their home.
After relocating to a new school Abby does her best to fit in and not let anyone know that she and her family are living in the car.
The divide between rich and poor is especially obvious at her school and Abby tries desperately to keep with her pretence and the few new friends she manages to make.
It was interesting to see the various schemes that are in place for those who find themselves in that situation such as the 2 week housing, the various lunch programs and soup kitchens.
This was a family who were trying to get back on their feet and took advantage of the opportunities on offer without misusing them. It was very easy to be sympathetic to the Lundes.
I especially enjoyed watching Abby’s confidence in herself grow as she looked after her sister, made her way cautiously in her school and make amends with her mother.
Her new relationships were lovingly crafted and felt real rather than forced which was nice too. There is an openly gay character who, while not being the central figure, is enough of a star without succumbing to stereotypes which was also nice to see.

The topic of teen homelessness is important, and this book had moments that were heart-wrenching and moving. The Lunde Family's experience demonstrates how easy it can be to slip from getting by to living out of a car.

From a story-telling perspective, though, I had a hard time getting past the shallow, physical descriptions of the characters. It felt like there could have been a little more showing and less telling. That being said, though, I probably wouldn't have noticed this if I were actually reading this book as a YA. And I'm sure that my YA self would have loved it.