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This novel posits an improbable story. Jet is clobbered on Halloween, almost dies, then has to choose between an operation that might save her though her chances of surviving it are very low, or staying alive just another week before her head injury will inevitably cause her death. She chooses the latter so she can find out who did it. Suspicion falls on her ex boyfriend who’s fled, but she keeps digging since the police have stopped their investigation— for good reason as we eventually discover. A childhood friend, Billy, sticks by her and serves as refuge and support as family tensions build. Gripping suspense helped me suspend disbelief.
The eponymous protagonist, a smart cookie, is 10 years old. Her parents are at odds, and of course she wants them to stay together. Jewish Dad was born in Russia, Mom comes from wealth but has liberal leanings, little brother Dylan is their natural child, but Vera was adopted; her birth mother is Korean. Vera’s observations on the dysfunction that surrounds her are spot on and often very funny, especially as she seeds her narrative with newly acquired vocabulary. The name Vera means faith in Russian, a quality she sorely needs to sustain her as she searches for identity at school, at home, and even in Korea where she ends up searching for her origins. Charming.
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