As someone who experienced homelessness as a child, I really appreciate a book that dived deep into this subject. ROAM shows how a family that no one would expect to be homeless loses everything with nuance and care. Themes of forgiveness and empathy abound in this touching story.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was your typical new girl in school story: Abby Lunde has just moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where she meets a group of friendly outcasts, the quarterback starts falling for her, and his ex-girlfriend has it out for her. The catch is that Abby is currently living in her mom's van.

This book didn't sugarcoat any of the hardships Abby and her family went through. On the other hand, it wasn't a depressing book. Abby doesn't want you to feel bad for her, and so you don't. The way homelessness is presented is definitely one of those "it could happen to you" scenarios where Abby was a fairly normal, middle-class girl until her parents both lost their jobs, but the book definitely took the effort to get you to feel for their struggles, and the struggles of the other homeless people in the story. It's a book about empathy, but it wasn't saturated in sadness. Homeless people are people like you or me, but they don't need to be ignored or coddled. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it!

This novel about a homeless high school student and her family is, unfortunately, badly uninformed, under-researched, oozing with unsubtle pro-Christian propaganda, and so full of brand names the author could have just put ads right into the pages. One of the most egregious thing the book does is paint the Salvation Army in a positive light, when the SA is a homophobic and abusive organization; having a single gay character in the book doesn't even begin to make up for the pro-SA message. From a literary POV, the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, and the author's use and understanding of To Kill a Mockingbird is sophomoric and problematic.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Central Avenue Publishing through NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book. 

Armstrong didn't give me a second to re-think my decision to pick up this book from my TBR. Abby's journey starts right away, with her family pulling into a Wal-Mart parking lot in Rochester, Minnesota with only a beat-up van to call home. Abby and her mother are on the outs ever since her mom did "something" that apparently led them to all of this, her step-father Nick is working to keep tensions at bay, and six-year-old Amber just wants to know why there's no TV and cozy bed anymore. The pacing in Roam kept my interest piqued from page one to the end, introducing Abby's school life and new romance while exploring how she became homeless. 

Abby is your average teen girl. She loves English class, thinks science is cool but has absolutely no skills with the subject whatsoever, has an amazing talent for singing, and also might possibly have a huge crush on the school football quarterback. She just also happens to be homeless. Abby is far from happy about her situation (and she puts a lot of the blame on her mother). A lot of the book focuses on Abby's responsibilities as a homeless teen (watching over her sister, sacrificing social/academic time to support her family, etc.) and how she comes to terms with how she became homeless.

I found Abby's emotional maturity in the book was better suited to a character aged 15 to 16 than her actual seventeen years (and the same to all her peers in this book) but that's an opinion that could be left to debate. I would recommend this book more to youths in that age range though. Abby easily and quickly befriends people when arriving in Rochester. She meets a boy on her first day and the pair are dating a few days after. Abby lives in a van and cannot shower, but no one notices anything. She loses her job, but it does not negatively impact her life. The rapidity of the relationships, paired with the overall positive outlook on homelessness, is more suited to a younger audience *in my opinion* than older teens who can benefit from a deep look into the harsher conditions of homeless youth. This is not a bad thing in any way!!! Just my details on recommendation age. 

In fact, the positive spin to the story was enjoyable, particularly towards the end of the book. I do find that all the plot lines wrapped up very neatly, and certainly created an idealistic end situation for anyone living a life similar to Abby's. Abby found a super supportive group of friends that helped her embrace who she is, which is the biggest takeaway in this novel. 

A four crown rating for this book! I enjoyed this story immensely. I rated down a bit because the relationships were a bit too fast forming for my taste, but as I said, I think this would perform well within the younger teen audience. 

Review posting on blog (https://bookprincessreviews.wordpress.com/): Jan. 28
Review posting on goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2632007612)

In this book you're following 17-year-old Abby Lunde, who together with the rest of her family is made homeless through a series of misfortunes. This book balances her struggles with homelessness and her struggles being a normal teenager and blends these two aspects together which creates an important, very readable novel. There were some minor things that annoyed me about this book (mainly related to the complexity of certain characters and the pace of the romance) but nothing was big enough to stop me from liking this book. I recommend this book as I liked it, it deals with such an important topic and I feel like this book could easily be read and discussed at high schools.

Rating 4/5

What an outstanding performance by Armstrong! Following the lives of those living on the streets and how they struggle to regain their footings for a better life. This should be a star novel for any YA TBR shelf. You learn so many values from this story and how YOU can make a difference in the lives of others living very similarly to these characters.

After a series of unfortunate events, Abby and her family end up homeless in Rochester. Not only does she have to deal with the drama of starting a new school and making new friends, but at night her family struggles to stay warm in their van.

I've read a lot of novels recently, mostly middle grade, that deal candidly with homeless children. This one was different because of the acts of kindness Abby receives while on her journey. Now, I know that sounds kind of sappy, but there are a lot of caring, receptive people who cross her path, and the overall message is of empathy, honest communication, and helping people who are less fortunate. Again, this sounds pretty preachy, but it's not, I promise! I felt for Abby and her family throughout the whole novel, but the compassionate writing made my reading experience buoyant instead of cynical and depressed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I got this book from Netgalley.co.uk and it will be published on the 5th February 2019. You should get it.

It is a YA novel about a homeless teenager. I don't have the experience to say whether or not it's a realistic portrayal, but it felt like it could be. It managed to balance the realities of the situation without being overwhelmingly depressing, which obviously makes the book much more readable. It's certainly easy to imagine a book on this topic being very hard going. Which is not to say that this book isn't hard in places, it is, and it should be.

I'm constantly surprised and impressed by YA authors taking on issues like this in their novels, and then I'm surprised by the young adults themselves for reading them. It can only be a good thing. It is definitely a book to help you imagine someone else's world and how difficult other people's lives can be. And yet, it doesn't take much imagination to think about ways Abby and her family's situation could have been better or worse.

The characters are likeable, except where they're not meant to be - and then by and large they were sympathetically dealt with.

I really liked this book. I found it readable and just enough on the comfortable side to be appropriate for someone just starting to think about an issue like homelessness and what it really means, but without being too serious to maintain attention. Seriously think about getting it.

(Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion!)

Abby Lunde has a lot going on in her life: she's starting a new school, the queen bee hates her, and she's struggling to figure out how she'll pay for college. On top of that, her family has recently become homeless, and winter is right on the horizon. Her step dad says it's only temporary, but Abby can't seem to forgive her mother for putting them in this position in the first place. All she wants is to be a normal teenager, but instead she finds herself worrying about where her next meal will come from, where they're going to sleep at night, and how to stop the quarterback of the football team from finding out she lives in a van.

Real talk. I liked parts of this book. But I have to be honest, I did not find it super believable. Sure, the homelessness aspects rang true, and tugged at my heart. But her relationship with her mother and former friends (told mostly through flashbacks) just took away from the real heart of the book: Abby and her family and their predicament. I didn't find it super believable that <spoiler>her friends all turned her back on her because her mom had an affair. Or the *entire* school bullying her and calling her a slut because of something her mother had done.</spoiler> I understand world building, but I wanted more on Abby's current predicament, which is where the real meat of the story was.

Likewise, I found it hard to feel super sorry for her when <spoiler>she showed up at a new school and immediately had a bunch of great friends, a boyfriend.</spoiler> I wanted so much more about her hardships! Those scenes were so amazing to me. I wanted to know more about them.

All around, it's a good story, which teaches empathy and understanding. I wanted more emphasis on the hard times, and not a world of good happening to her at school. Especially when the world she lived in was so drastically different from those her friends were living.

That said, I think this is an important read that teaches empathy and understanding.

I liked this book. The story was original and Abby a unique character. At times I found her to be whiny but I think I would too if I was homeless so I'm not one to judge. It's about a girl and her family that move to Rochester, Minnesota due to unfortunate circumstances. They end up homeless and it's narrated through Abby, a senior and we see her tackle the issue.

The plot really opened up my eyes as to the hardships of being homeless and the romance was always nice to have. Although at times the writing felt forced and predictable, it was a good read that left me satisfied towards the end.

Thank you!

"Being homeless is the most helpless feeling in the world. One minute our lives were normal - we were completely in control of our destinies. The next minute circumstances were thrown at us that took everything away".

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it".

"I've learned that sometimes we have to roam in order to find the place that feels most like home".

Roam explores the issue of family homelessness; it follows the story of Abby Lunde, a 17 year old teenager who just happens to be homeless. Following a mistake made by her mother, Abby and her family are forced to move to Rochester and live out of her step-dad's van. As we watch their struggle of finding somewhere to sleep, eat, and live, we also follow Abby's struggle of trying to fit in at school.

The premise of this book was really intriguing to me, however I have to say that about the first half of the book I really struggled with it; I felt it didn't follow so much the struggle of how the family were coping with homelessness, but rather Abby's 'struggle' with fitting in at school. I put struggle in '' because there was no struggle for her; within a week she's got a boyfriend, three best friends, an arch enemy, and an audition for a soloist role in a school performance. It all felt a bit too much for me and as if this character was perfect with absolutely no flaws. That said, the second half did resonate much more with me and I did feel I connected more with Abby and her family; they appeared to be more fleshed out and I was able to empathise with the difficulties they were experiencing. I won't say much more so not to spoil the plot; I do feel this book is aimed at a much younger reading age than I am; probably 9-12 younger teen, rather than young adult, and feel if I was reading it at that age I probably wouldn't have noticed the above as much as I did now.

I definitely feel this story shows the realistic circumstances in which a couple of things go wrong and your whole life is thrown into turmoil; homelessness doesn't just happen to a stereotypical person, it can happen to everyone and this book really defines that. This is an important story that needs to be told for this generation.

Thank you NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for allowing me to read a copy of this book for my honest review.

An interesting topic of a teen drama whilst having family issues and being homeless added to the stress of schools and love.

A nice read that shows the cracking of adult and teen lives in a sympathetic way

It was a super unique story and plotline. It is about a teenage girl whose life is ripped away and she's forced out of her home with her struggling family. I don't find many books with that sort of story and I found it surprisingly refreshing. The book was written really well. My only complaint was that the new relationships seem to happen super fast and is sort of rushed... I don't think friendships/relationships happen that fast in real life. It was a great story and I definitely recommend it.

Abby's story is an important one to add to YA literature. Abby is a precocious teenager, one that I think other teens will relate to. She's smart, an avid reader, and has normal concerns about making friends at her new school and navigating a high school crush. All this is made more difficult by the fact that her family is homeless, and she's terrified that this secret will come out and ruin the new life she's working to build.

Despite the sad premise and a few gut-wrenching scenes, this is primarily a positive and uplifting story that is completely appropriate for a YA audience. It would make for good discussion in high schools or a youth group type setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for a free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book has left me feeling a lot of emotions. I understand the concept and the empathy and even the relevance of what so many families are struggling with right here in our nicest and most affluent of American neighborhoods. I respect all of those aspects of this book, but I was so angry at the parents and even some of the other adults bc no 6 year old deserves to sleep in a van in October! No child does and it happens everyday, but it was up to her parents to protect her even when their circumstances became beyond their control. Their children deserved better than they gave AFTER the fact and should have not been selfishly made to suffer when they could have spoken up and likely been taken in by a family at church or even into foster care as a very last resort. I understand wanting to keep your family together, but if you can’t keep your shit together, why watch your children needlessly suffer with you? All-in-all I enjoyed the book, but I still have mixed personal feelings a out the events—mainly because I know how realistic they actually are.

Thanks to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the ARC of Roam by C.H. Armstrong.

When Abby’s mum makes a terrible mistake, the whole family leaves Omaha and moves to Rochester, hoping for a new start. However, money is tight, and Abby, her mum, step-dad, and little sister are homeless, having to resort to sleeping in their van and getting charity meals wherever they’re available. Abby starts a new school, and hopes this will be a clean slate, meeting new friends and a new love interest. But Abby lives in fear that her secret will be uncovered and that her new friends will desert her as her old ones did.

This book is a perfect read for teens and young adults. The characters are well-developed, and you can’t help falling in love with them (I had a particular soft spot for Abby’s little sister, Amber). I felt such sympathy for Abby and her family, and there were some sections where I just wanted to get in there and help to fix things for them. There are some lovely life lessons wrapped up in the storyline, and the overall theme of acceptance and forgiveness is one that I think is so important. Overall, a really heart-warming, uplifting tale.

4 stars out of 5

Roam will be published on 5 February 2019.

C.H. Armstrong has a knack for writing about strong women in trying times. In Roam, she tackles the difficult issue of homelessness through the lens of Abby Lunde. Abby is a seventeen-year-old senior in high school who has had to relocate to Rochester, Minnesota with her family due to a series of horrible events. First, Abby's mom lost her job, then her step-dad lost his job, then they lost their home.
Forced to literally live in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot, Abby must navigate integrating into a new school, making friends, defending herself from enemies, and looking out for her younger sister, all while keeping the secret of her unsettled home life a secret.
With respect for the subject matter and true insight into the life of teenagers, Armstrong tells an honest, heart-wrenching, and ultimately, uplifting tale about survival, trust, hope, and, above all, forgiveness. I'd recommend Roam to any fan of fiction, regardless of age. It's a great story that tackles deep issues with care and honesty. Do yourself a favor, and give Roam a read. I highly recommend it.

This story is interesting because we get to see how life it’s unstable. One moment everything is alright and the next second you are sleeping in the van, in a couple of months or just weeks.
I liked the story line. See how the family must do to get their needs satisfied. It’s shows how hard is to be homeless, how hard is to have a job that’s not enough to help you survive. The people who passes through these hard issues are true fighters. It’s very hard! And, if being homeless is hard, imagine being homeless with your children. Despair, torment, feeling hopeless, can’t even imagine how a parent can feel in this situation. This book is perfect showing that, a story of survival, forgiveness and the willingness of some good people to help others in need.
Abby is a strong character and realistic, she’s very grown up and knows perfectly her responsibilities and issues. At the same time, she desires to have a normal life with her friends and boyfriend knowing it can maker her lifer even hard and she’s not perfect, that’s way she’s a good character.
I like Zach but feels like is missing a little, he’s too perfect. In some way is the dream boyfriend every girl wants though in reality, you will get suspicious. Too nice? Maybe is sociopath, oh well. Let’s not forget Abby’s enemy, Trish. Of course, there’s always a popular girl trying to mess someone’s life.
In general, I liked the characters, every single one shows a part of a normal life, in this case a more difficult life, but the typical connections and roles.
I really liked this story! It shown me we can’t take our things and life for granted. Makes me treasure more the life I have and grow a desire to help others. I’m glad I read this book.

Wow! Ugly crying,; happy tears. Roam is an important novel exploring themes of hopelessness, empathy and the triumph of the human spirit.

Book Review - ‘Roam’ by C.H. Armstrong ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing, Netgalley and C.H Armstrong for the chance to read and review this book.

“There are countless things I never imagined about being homeless - so many things I’d taken for granted.”

Roam is a story about a normal family going through familiar problems, and a normal teenager with normal teenage problems. But there’s one thing that isn’t normal: they’re also homeless and currently sleeping in the back of their van and eating free meals at the soup kitchen, all whilst trying to settle into a new town. Living this way makes every little thing that much harder as they’re cramped in this small space with no escape or privacy, they have no washing facilities for themselves or their clothes and very little money for food. It also means they have to think about things most of us don’t give a second thought: can they afford to turn on the heat in the car, can they afford breakfast or do they need to skip it, getting the kids to school early so they can have a wash and brush their teeth and hair before anyone else turns up, and how are they going to wash their clothes and bodies? It also makes starting a new school even more daunting as Abby is worried she’ll be bullied if people find out about her family’s situation.

“There wasn’t anyone who could help you?”

As soon as I read the description of this book I was intrigued. While reading I realised that part of my attraction to this book, and the affinity I was feeling with Abby, was because of my experiences with homeless people. A few months before I turned 13 my Dad got a job after almost three years out of work. The job saw us move from the north of the country to the south, and while we weren’t homeless, we did live amongst people who were or had been. My Dad’s new job was at the YMCA and we lived in the staff flat on the premises. Over the years I saw many things, heard people’s heartbreaking stories and saw teenagers who were homeless for a multitude of reasons. It taught me it can happen to anyone, that we never know why someone is on the street and to be thankful for all I have. I also learned that once you’re homeless it isn’t easy to pull yourself out of that situation and how vital things such as homeless shelter and soup kitchens really are. I think these things all made the book resonate with me in a unique way.

“..the best part isn’t the food - it’s how we’re treated: like real people..”

So many times in this novel we’re reminded of how dismal Abby’s situation is and how heartbreaking and demoralising it must be. Who wouldn’t feel that way queuing for hours just to make sure you’re first in line at the soup kitchen for dinner or sneaking into the toilets at Wal-Mart so you can wash your hair and have a sponge wash in the sink. But then there are the heartwarming times such as the first time they go to Saturday Community Kitchen and are served as guests instead of lining up like at the soup kitchen, and in the many acts of kindness that take place in this story.

“How can I ever forgive her?”

At first we don’t know exactly why they had to leave Omaha for Rochester or what it is that Abby’s Mom did to make her so angry at her, but over time we learn the stories and are able to empathise with some of Abby’s feelings towards her mother. I thought that their relationship was well written: full of the usual teenage angst and complexities between a parent and child but with the added anger, guilt and frustration the pair feel.

“It’s easy to forget you’re worthy when you’re trying so hard just to make it through each day, but always remember: you are worthy.”

I really enjoyed this book. It had a good story, was well written and had great characters. I connected with Abby and thought the writer captured teenage friendships and relationships well. I particularly liked Abby’s relationship with her little sister, Amber. It offered some of the more light hearted moments, and also some of the most emotional ones. It also gave Abby a person who mattered more to her than she did that she could focus on. I loved how she’d sing to her little sister to get her to fall asleep, distract her or cheer her up. I also liked how instead of the stereotypical evil stepdad we had a stepdad in this book who was adored, and loved his stepchild like he did his own. I liked how the book ended, though I’m not saying more as I don’t want to give anything away. Roam is a great novel that I would recommend, and not just to lovers of the Young Adult genre.