10 Things I Can See From Here

December 12, 2016
Everyone tells Maeve that things will be fine, but they don’t know what it’s like to have an anxiety disorder, to visualize possible disasters constantly. Spending six months in Vancouver with her father and stepfamily is terrifying for nearly 17-year-old Maeve—she could die on the way, for one thing. Even after arriving safely, she finds cause for worry. Her father may be drinking again, the home birth her pregnant stepmother is planning is risky, and being around Salix—the girl she likes—is nerve-racking. But to Maeve’s surprise, Salix likes her. Even more surprising: when some of Maeve’s fears come to pass, she’s upset, but not helpless. Mac (The Way Back) is good at showing how a dread-filled mind works and how Salix, whom Maeve sees as wholly confident, also has to fight nerves. Mac’s not interested in villains: there is no evil stepmother, no homophobia. Instead, the struggles are internal, like Maeve’s anxiety and her father’s relapse, and relational, as people try to forgive and be honest with each other. The result is a low-key but affecting story. Ages 14–up.

Starred review from November 15, 2016
A white teen with severe anxiety struggles to manage her mental health and finds joy in a budding relationship with a new girlfriend. Most people worry, but Maeve has always done so to the extreme. With her severe anxiety and panic disorder, she is constantly working to balance her spiraling, catastrophizing thoughts--without the help of any medication. When her mom decides to spend six months in Haiti, Maeve is forced to move to live with her father and his family in Vancouver, disrupting her otherwise relatively stable life. In Vancouver, Maeve feels she has plenty to be anxious about: from her pregnant stepmother's home-birth plan to the possibility her father might start drinking and using again. But when already-out Maeve meets Salix, a violin-busking "friend of Dorothy," and their mutual attraction grows, she begins to find unexpected happiness in Vancouver. Mac crafts a beautifully awkward and affecting budding relationship between Maeve and Salix--one that neither miraculously cures Maeve nor leaves her entirely unchanged. With Maeve, Mac provides a realistic portrayal of the ways that anxiety can affect all relationships and permeate every aspect of life--demonstrated at times with humor through sardonic obituaries regularly composed by Maeve throughout the first-person narrative. With Maeve, Mac delivers a character who's heartwarmingly real and sympathetic, and her story provides a much needed mirror for anxious queer girls everywhere. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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December 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Anxiety is hard to deal with at the best of times, and Maeve deals with it on a day-to-day basis. But now, her mom and her mom's boyfriend are leaving for six months, and Maeve has to stay with her dad in Vancouver-all things that make her anxiety skyrocket. To make matters worse, her dad isn't in a good place and life seems to be falling apart all around her. There is one bright light in her life, and her name is Salix. Will Salix help keep out all of the darkness? Mac creates in Maeve a character with relatable issues for teens. The novel's title suggests that there is a list of things that surround Maeve-that she's aware of in any given moment. Throughout the narrative, though, teens will see that Maeve has so much more surrounding her that she doesn't always register, including family, love, and friendship. Throughout all of Maeve's experiences of anxiety, there is one constant theme: no matter how bad things are, Maeve always gets through them. This hopeful offering will resonate with young people for their own lives, even if the journey is hard and takes time and patience. Maeve's romance with a girl is an integrated part of a complex plot. VERDICT This compelling portrait of a teen's experiences with anxiety and challenging family dynamics is a solid choice for most realistic fiction shelves.-Rena Gibson, Ralph Ellison Library, Oklahoma City

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 This new novel from Mac (The Beckoners, 2004) opens on a bus taking Maeve to Vancouver, where she will be staying with her dad for six months. Saddled with severe anxiety, she panics when they are delayed at the border so that a passenger's papers can be checked, and she grows increasingly afraid that this man might be a terrorist and something might happen to her. Despite the rather stereotypical depiction of foreign people at borders, the fast-paced narration does a good job of capturing the urgency someone with severe anxiety might feel. Her anxiety is heightened by her dad's alcohol addiction, her pregnant stepmom's insistence on a home birth, and her breakup with her girlfriend. Young adult readers will sympathize with Maeve's need to find a way to manage her anxiety amidst all these stressors and still find joy in her new home life. This is a good companion book for other anxiety-riddled stories, such as The Shattering (2011), by Karen Healey, and Finding Audrey (2015), by Sophie Kinsella.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
Maeve has severe anxiety and isn't eager to live with her father, stepmother, and half-siblings in Vancouver while her (understanding) mother is in Haiti. But this change plus a potential new girlfriend help Maeve find some peace. A realistic portrayal of anxiety disorder and a refreshing, often funny story with a queer protagonist who is already out and accepted.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)