Addiction is something that has touched the lives of so many people I know. Twelve year old Emma’s high school star athlete brother is severely injured in a football game. Unbeknownst to Emma and her parents, he becomes addicted to opiates given to him to manage his pain. This is life changing and heartbreaking for the family as they deal with helping him with his addiction. Emma is already struggling with normal preteen drama of navigating middle school, so having her very close relationship with her brother change is so hurtful to her. She feels betrayed, guilty for not noticing he was changing, and upset that her summer is turned upside down as she is sent out west with near strangers so his parents can shift their attention to Austin. I liked the realistic way the author portrayed the feelings of the parents and Emma. It would be interesting to have a sequel written from the perspective of Austin. I appreciated the realization the family had that keeping it a secret from people made it harder and that things improved when they had the support of friends, family, and their community. It was also realistic with setbacks and an imperfect ending. Many people could connect to this book.

It has been a while since I was so engaged in a book that I couldn't put it down, but I really had a hard time making myself put this down. Emma's voice felt so authentic, and I think many readers will connect with her struggles with navigating friendships as she grows older. I can't speak to the experience myself, but I would hope Emma's experiences coping with Austin's addiction might be a comfort to young readers have had similar struggles.

This was an absolutely gut-wrenching book, but not hopeless. I felt the ending was satisfying but not overly tidy. I'm not sure I'll buy it for my elementary library, but I wouldn't hesitate to put it in a middle school library.

Jenn Bishop writes such heartfelt, hopeful middle grade, and WHERE WE USED TO ROAM is no exception. The two-act structure of the book worked really effectively, and the characters were really well developed and endearing. Highly recommend.

Jenn Bishops' newest book, Where We Used to Roam, was beautifully written and a must have for all educators. Bishop discussed the topic of addiction and the impact it has on the entire family really well. Our middle grade students will find it easy to connect with her approach to this topic. I have added Where We Used to Roam to our middle school book club sets.

I got into Jenn Bishop thanks to the What Should I Read Next Podcast. I love an emotional middle grade read and this was right up my alley. There was so much plot packed into this jewel of a book and I loved every second of it.

Loved Emma’s story of strength & resilience as she navigates middle school & her brother spiraling into addiction. Readers’ hearts & minds will open with this one.

Middle school is hard enough without having to deal with your brother's issues. Emma is dealing with new friends and an old friend--how do they mix? Is she still friends with her old friend and her new friend? But she gets sent away to Colorado because her parents need time and space to deal with her brother's addiction issues. She doesn't even really know the family friend she's being sent to stay with. Fortunately, Emma manages to find a way to grow and even make a new friend in Colorado.

This book really is Emma's journey through sixth grade handling all the usual issues plus her family issues. Her growth is organic and I think many kids will find their emotions in this book.

A beautiful coming of age story that a lot of middle grade readers will connect with. Emma, who has always felt different from the rest of her family, is starting to break out of her shell now that she’s started middle school. She makes two good friends who are also into art, which has her wondering if it’s time to move on from her friendship with Becca, her best friend since preschool. Then her entire world shifts when it is revealed that her older brother has become addicted to pain killers. What does this mean for Emma, her family, and her friendships?

An absolutely gorgeous, yet heartbreaking story. Emma’s brother change drastically after injuring himself at a football game. She notices his mood swings, lack of memory, and feels like something is off. Meanwhile, she is dealing with her own troubles as she is realizing her best friend, Becca, isn’t growing up like everyone else is. Emma finds new friends and makes a huge mistake of sharing something personal about Becca. Next thing you know, Emma is drowning in guilt, her brother is going to rehab for opioid addiction, and she is shipped off for the summer to another state to live with a family she hardly knows. Readers will love the friendship that Emma forms with Tyler while she is staying in Wyoming, the ties of art, and seeing how a family comes together in a crisis.

When her art teacher and her brother Austin encourage Emma to join Art Club, she befriends two new girls. They seem to really understand her and appreciate her art. Emma quickly becomes embarrassed of her longtime friend Becca. She seems immature compared to Emma’s new friends. Meanwhile, after a sports injury, Emma’s brother starts to withdraw. He becomes moody, his grades slip, and he breaks a promise he made Emma. When Emma is away on a school camping trip that drastically impacts her relationship with Becca, Emma’s parents discover Austin has become addicted to opioids.

Emma agrees to go to Wyoming for the summer so that her parents can focus on helping her brother. Because of what happened with her friends, she’s eager to escape. And she doesn’t want to add to her parents’ problems. Is leaving the solution? Can Emma repair her friendship with Becca? Will rehab bring back the old Austin?

An important story of family, friendship, and forgiveness that gracefully illustrates how a teenager learns to cope with a loved one who is struggling with addiction. Where We Used to Roam is a necessary addition to every classroom library.

Where We Used to Roam is a realistic, pitch-perfect book about a family dealing with a teen's opioid addiction. Featuring a relatable protagonist struggling to find her place when nothing in her world is as it used to be, this engaging middle grade book highlights the value of conflict resolution skills, finding friends who see us, and loving our family even when they fall off the right path. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for middle grade books about addiction in the family. Much like Jen Petro Roy's Life in the Balance, this one finds the sweet spot between tween-appropriate and true-to-life.

Another gem from Jenn Bishop -- this time a story following a younger sister watching as her beloved older brother secretly falls into drug abuse following an injury. HIs drug addiction impacts not only his own life, but the lives of the entire family. At the same time, Emma is navigating changing friendships and trying to figure out who she really is while hiding what her family is going through. A story too many may be able to relate to...

Where We Used to Roam focuses on Emma, a girl with a lot going on. As she navigates the changing friendships of middle school, her beloved brother is struggling with a football injury. Eventually, things come to a head with her friends just as she finds out that her brother is abusing painkillers and needs to go to rehab. This nuanced and thoughtful story is perfect for middle grade students to explore the issue of abuse, and is a realistic depiction of the challenges that kids of all socio-economic backgrounds face with the drug problem in this country. A worthy read for all kids.

Emma is dealing with the ups and downs of middle school friendship, while also navigating the changes in her much-beloved older brother. How will a sudden solo trip to visit family friends in Wyoming help her and give her another perspective? Engrossing middle grade read by Jenn Bishop that takes on the family’s impact by teen addiction.

Where We Used to Roam by Jenn Bishop tackles how opiod addiction impacts Emma's family. Emma's brother, Austin, develops the addiction after suffering an injury in football. After Emma's parents find out what is happening, they send Austin to a rehab facility and Emma to Wyoming to stay with family friends. Emma is struggling with old and new friendships along with the changes happening in her family. This book is an important story to start conversations about this topic. This is a great story about family, friendship, and overcoming obstacles.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

We meet Emma, a girl, that is starting middle school. She has her best friend Becca that she has known since they were very young and Emma realizes after making two new friends with Kennedy and Lucy that she and Becca are changing and growing apart. Figuring out how to remain friends with Becca while adding new friends to her life is one of the changes that she is adapting to in middle school. Also, her brother Austin get injured in football, and their relationship changes. It becomes more strained as she feels like something is wrong with him, but she isn't sure what. Emma's parents send her to Wyoming for the summer while they deal with her brother. I think that Jenn does a great job of portraying Emma and her friends and family's struggles. Not only is she adjusting to middle school, but then there are the struggles at home after her brother's injury. The only issue I have with this book is that I am from the Northeast part of Wyoming where Jenn sets most of the second half of the story. In her description of Chris, she says that he works in a mine more than a mile underground. For those from Wyoming, we know that almost all of our coal mines are surface mines and they use surface techniques for mining. They are not like underground mines in other parts of the country. There is only one underground mine and it is in Sweetwater county, which is not in the Northeastern part of Wyoming.

This is a fantastic middle grades book! The main character Emma is struggling with changing friendships as she navigates her first year of middle school and tries to figure out what it really means to be a friend. While dealing with this she realizes that her brother, who was injured in a high school football game, is now addicted to opioids. While her parents send him for help and figure out next steps they send her to stay with her moms best friend in Wyoming. She finds a friend in this new town who is also navigating his own family as his mother is in jail for making meth and he is living with his grandparents. They form such a special friendship and watch Gilmore Girls together which makes for so many great Gilmore Girl references. While she is in Wyoming she has a interest in all things Buffalo because it was her brother's favorite animal as a kid. She ends up seeing a baby buffalo and then shortly after being called home because her brother was in the hospital from an overdose. This book is so perfect for middle grades because it addresses the complicated friendship dynamics that so many middle grades students face in an honest way that doesn't downplay their importance. It also handles her brother's addiction in an honest, heartbreaking and yet appropriate way for that age group.

This one hits right at the heart of a family dealing with unexpected grief. Told from 6th grader Emma’s point of view-moving from present, to past, and back to present- we are brought into the story of opioid addiction in a seemingly all too familiar place. Teenage brother Austin hides his addiction to painkillers after suffering a devastating football injury, while Emma discovers how middle school changes a friendship she once relied on to define her.

Emma lives in a suburb of Boston with her parents, a meteorologist and a running store owner, and her older brother Austin, a football star. Her long time best friend, Becca, is very bookish, and as sixth grade starts, the two are having a hard time finding common ground. They both want to join clubs, but Becca wants to do Battle of the Books and Forensics, neither of which sound at all appealing to Emma. She would rather do art club, since one of her hobbies is making shadow boxes. When she finally breaks with Becca and goes to art club, she has a good time, and even makes new friends. Kennedy and Lucy are a bit quirky, but lots of fun, and seem to understand her more than Becca does. While the school year has gotten off to an uneasy but decent start for Emma, it's been disastrous for her brother. Austin is injured in a football game, requires surgery, and has a hard time coping with both the pain and the end of his sports career. At a camping trip at the end of the school year, Emma lets a secret about Becca slip, and the two aren't speaking. When Austin needs to go into rehab, Emma's parents decide to send her out to Montana, to stay with a college friend of the mother's, while they deal with Austin's addiction. Emma isn't happy, especially when she finds out that Chris and Delia's daughter is three years older than she is and not interested in all of the fun trips that her mother has planned. Luckily, Emma meets Tyler at the library, and the two hang out together. Emma still feels bad about what she did to Becca, and starts a shadow box for her, hoping to heal their friendship. Tyler has family secrets of his own, and the two spend the summer together trying to figure out the next step.
Strengths: I really enjoyed Emma's exploration of school clubs, and her decision to break with Becca and join a new club will resonate with many readers. Middle school is a time when almost everyone loses at least one friend. Austin's descent into addiction is realistically portrayed, and I loved that the parents were active and functioning, and even then missed some clues. When they did realize what was going on, they actively worked to get Austin help. Traveling to exotic locales to spend the summer with people one barely knows has roots going back to Cleary's The Luckiest Girl, and is always a popular topic. The fact that Tyler is gay but has been out long enough in his community for it to be an unremarkable part of his personality is appreciated.
Weaknesses: Emma's problem with Becca didn't seem like that big a deal; I see students who do worse things to friends all the time, unfortunately. It was good to see that Emma felt bad and wanted to repair her relationship, but she was really obsessed with it in a way that seemed uncharacteristic of 6th graders. Certainly within the realm of reality, though, so a small quibble that middle grade readers are unlikely to have.
What I really think: I like each book by Bishop a little better than the last (although my favorite is 14 Hollow Road, which students keep losing and I've had to replace twice!). She deals with a lot of hard issues in a fairly constructive way, and there are certainly a lot of students who have had someone in their families addicted to opioids. I am a little surprised that the book wasn't set in Ohio, since there is such a wide ranging problem in our state, but I will definitely be purchasing this title.

Where We Used to Roam is the heart-warming and heart-wrenching story of a young girl’s transition into adolescence amidst her older brother’s injury-related addiction. The vividly realistic depiction of middle grade friendship, addiction, and family dynamics make this book impossible to put down. Readers will find themselves sincerely invested in each unique and well-drawn character. Difficult issues are tackled with a sensitivity and realism that make them feel approachable, from growing out of childhood friendships to first crushes and learning how to continue loving someone when you haven’t yet forgiven them.