The Reappearance of Sam Webber is an uplifting teen and family drama about a young Baltimore boy who, following his father's disappearance, overcomes depression both his and his mother's and with the help of the residents of his middle-lower class community, especially an older black janitor at his middle school, gets on with his life. Addressing issues of abandonment, fatherless families, friendship, rebirth, bullying, and racism, it is, in movie terms, an urban Bridge to Terabithia.

Eleven-year-old Sam Webber was never very good at making friends his own age. In fact, he felt closest to his mother and father: "I always enjoyed my parents' company more than anyone else's." So Sam is devastated when, without warning, his father abandons the family. Forced to move to a poorer neighborhood of Baltimore, Sam has to adjust to a strange school, a small, squalid apartment, and recurring bouts of nervous nausea and hyperventilation. Retreating to a world of comic books and G.I. Joe figures, Sam sinks into a deep depression. It is only when he strikes up an unlikely friendship with the school janitor, Greely, that Sam begins to creep out of his shell and connect with the world again. Surrounded by Greely, his mom, and his mom's friends (the ever-jolly Junie and her curmudgeonly husband Ditch), Sam learns, in the year after his father's disappearance, how to trust again--and become a stronger Sam Webber.

Jonathon Scott Fuqua's sensitively written first novel displays a true understanding of teen depression while sending the uplifting message that it won't last forever. Nominated for the Alex Award, which was established by the American Library Association to highlight outstanding adult books for teenagers, The Reappearance of Sam Webber is an engaging, thoughtful read for both teens and parents. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

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