Journey

Patricia Maclachlan's "Journey" is a poignant young adult novel about eleven-year-old Journey, who is left with his sister, Cat, at their grandparents' home after their mother unexpectedly departs. Filled with anger and confusion, Journey embarks on a quest to understand why she left, piecing together shredded photographs and examining family albums. Through his grandfather's shared passion for photography, Journey learns to see beyond the surface, ultimately discovering that love still binds his family, even in absence. This book sensitively explores themes of abandonment, grief, resilience, and the healing power of art and family connection, making it ideal for readers navigating complex family changes.

Journey is eleven the summer his mother leaves him and his sister, Cat, with their grandparents. He is sad and angry, and spends the summer looking for the clues that will explain why she left.Journey searches photographs for answers. He hunts family resemblances in Grandma's albums. Looking for happier times, he tries to put together the torn pieces of the pictures his mother shredded before her departure. And he also searches the photographs his grandfather takes as the older man attempts to provide Journey with a past. In the process, the boy learns to look and finds that, for him, the camera is a means of finding things his naked eye has missed--things LIKE inevitability of his mother's departure and the love that still binds his family.From the Trade Paperback edition.