Synopsis from Goodreads:
Raven is a deeply disturbed teenager, who, after witnessing the death of his mother, is placed in foster care. The Russells do their best to earn his trust, but only little Ella manages to get through to him.
Meanwhile, at school, bullies are making his life a living hell. An unexpected companion comes in the form of Lotte, a classmate bored by her 'ordinary' friends.Together, they track down Raven's mum's killer, with the goal of exposing him to the police. But their carefully crafted plan goes dangerously wrong and suddenly nothing is as it seems.
Everything is falling apart and, ultimately, there is only one, final way out.
REVIEW:
From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma was an amazing book! I read it in one sitting in the early hours of the morning. What kept me awake and reading? There's a simple answer- Suzuma's writing is gripping and fluid. She writes with confidence and gets into her characters' heads really well. There wasn't a point at which I thought- oh, it's getting boring now, I can stop here. That was why I had to keep reading.
From Where I Stand is about a 14 year old boy called Raven in foster care. At the start of the story, he meets his new foster parents, Jackie and Dan- and also their five year old daughter, Ella (who can speak really well for a five year old;).
Raven is monosyllabic and uncommunicative and you can tell he's been through a lot. He's lost his mother, he doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere and he's being bullied at school.
Enter Lotte. She's the only friendly person at school and Raven confides in her about his mother's death. His mother was murdered, Raven knows who the murderer was and he's going to do something about it.
Raven was a fantastic character. He had problems but won't talk about them with anyone, not even with Lotte in some cases. He keeps himself at a distance, so much so that we, the reader, don't know what to think of him and his actions at times. This balance of how much the author let the reader know was brilliantly balanced.
I really liked all the characters- well, except Kyle and Brett, who we're not meant to like anyway. Lotte was kind and helpful, but I thought she was slightly naive. I have to remind myself that she is only fourteen, but still... Dan and Jackie were great foster parents and Ella was cute (sometimes :).
Overall, From Where I Stand was a great story and I would recommend it to everyone who likes fantastic writing, well-developed characters and shocking twists.
Book Rating: 5/5
Cover Rating: 4/5
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
