Heather Smith Meloche

4.5 stars.

Ripple by Heather Smith Meloche is a gritty young adult novel about two teenagers who turn to self-destructive behavior in an attempt to cope with their troubled home lives.

Tessa Leighton is crushed by the weight of her grandmother's expectations to take over the family business. Now beginning her senior year of high school, her future seems inescapable as she feels increased pressure to turn in her college application to the university selected by her grandmother. This just adds to the other stress she feels living with an alcoholic stepfather whose verbal abuse has shredded her self-worth which is already precarious due to her biological father's complete lack of involvement in her life. Despite having a popular boyfriend, Tessa uses sex with strangers to feel better about herself. While she is careful to select partners away from her small town in an effort to keep her liaisons secret, Tessa knows she is one casual encounter away from discovery.

New student Jack Dalton's coping mechanism is a series of endless pranks that are harmless but are still considered petty crimes. After a family tragedy, his parents divorced and he began taking care of his brilliant but mentally ill mother. Trying to keep her worsening condition hidden from everyone, Jack not only takes care of her but he also works a couple of jobs to keep money coming in on a regular basis. When the stress gets to be too much for him, he blows off steam by plotting and carrying out another one of his shenanigans. Charming and insightful, Jack immediately recognizes a kindred spirit when he meets Tessa and they form an unlikely and sometimes rocky friendship.

Dealing with real life issues such as mental illness, alcoholism and financial struggles, Ripple is a heartbreakingly poignant young adult novel. Heather Smith Meloche deftly handles difficult subject matter with sensitivity in a forthright manner. Jack and Tessa are realistically developed protagonists who make terrible choices but this is fairly common with most teenagers. The storyline is often heartrending but Tessa and Jack's character growth is absolutely phenomenal and incredibly gratifying. I highly recommend this emotionally compelling young adult novel to adult and older teen readers.
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Tessa engages in random sex to feel wanted and to escape an alcoholic stepfather and an overbearing grandmother who has Tessa’s life planned out, contrary to Tessa’s dreams. Jack performs random acts of vandalism to escape the stress of caring for a schizophrenic mother and hiding the seriousness of her condition. It is no surprise that these two troubled teens form a tenuous bond. Things get out of hand for Tessa when her boyfriend Seth’s teammate sees her cheating on Seth. To buy his silence she agrees to deliver drugs for him. When Jack learns his mother left the scene of a hit and run, causing serious injury to the other driver, his pranks become far more dangerous. Both are bright and talented students. Can they come clean, overcome their demons and achieve their potential?

The problem with Tessa and Jack in Ripple, Heather Smith Meloche’s debut novel, is that they are not likeable characters at the start of the book and never fully recover. He is too glib and she is too whiny. While there may be teens with similar life stresses and some of them may react as do Tessa and Jack, the reality factor never quite makes it. The few poignant moments come too late in the story. Secondary characters are weak. Coincidences abound. The story is too neatly wrapped up. Readers interested in a novel about a parent’s schizophrenia might consider A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler.… (más)