Just Until - by Joseph Moldover (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Seventeen-year-old Hannah must choose the impossible--put her nephews into foster care so she can stay true to her dream, or take them on and lose everything she has worked so hard to achieve"--

Book Synopsis

Hannah must choose the impossible--put her nephews into foster care so she can stay true to her dream, or take them on and lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve.

17-year-old Hannah Lynn has just one goal: to get out of Evans Beach, Maine. It's where she lost her mother to cancer. Where her estranged sister, Pauline, fell apart before moving out. Where her father, Larry, holds court as a local legend who once played for the Red Sox. Hannah has never fit in, but that doesn't matter now that she is finally on the cusp of escaping to her dream college.

Then her life is turned upside down when Pauline's two sons are taken by the state, leaving Hannah and Larry the only people standing between the boys and the child welfare system. Her father wants to provide them with kinship care and promises that it will only be for a little while, just until Pauline gets back on her feet. But Hannah knows nothing is that simple when it comes to her troubled older sister.

When her father's health declines Hannah must make a soberingly adult decision: is she willing to give up her dream and raise her nephews on her own or can she let them be placed in the foster care system?

Drawing on his clinical psychology background, Moldover challenges readers to face some of life's most difficult questions through the eyes of an unforgettably complex heroine. Unflinching yet ultimately hopeful, Just Until is a heart-wrenching tale of the weight some teenagers carry when no one else can do it for them--one that will linger with readers long after the final page.

A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

Review Quotes

★ "[A] compelling narrative."--Booklist, Starred Review

"An honest, moving portrayal of a family finding their way through life's challenging moments."--Kirkus Reviews

"Moldover employs sensitivity and nuance to depict Hannah's determination to secure financial stability and do right by her nephews and herself. Her evolution from reticence to fierce advocate radiates with heart."--Publishers Weekly

"Just Until takes readers on an incredibly emotional journey alongside eighteen-year-old Hannah as her home situation spirals out of control, forcing her to make life-changing decisions for her entire family. This gruff but loveable teen made me cry and gave me hope for humanity. This story bursts with heart!" --Kip Wilson, Author of White Rose and The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin

"An incredibly gripping, powerful story about a young woman, Hannah, who faces tough choices in a tough world. At a crossroads, she must dig deep to find a path that is at once hopeful and healing. In Just Until, Moldover has created characters I cared for so deeply. And I was turning the pages so fast that I got paper cuts. Compulsively readable." --Jennifer De Leon, author of Borderless and Don't ask me where I'm From

"Hannah's thoughtful, whip-smart first-person narrative will instantly resonate with readers. My heart ached alongside her as she wrestled with dreams of escaping small town life, and the realities of unexpected family complications." --Alex Richards, author of When We Were Strangers and Accidental

"With his sophomore novel, Joseph Moldover proves--yet again--that few writers are better suited to explore the harrowing years between adolescence and adulthood. Just Until is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining: a lost-girl, found-family tale with a protagonist whose hard-edged charm echoes the New England coastal landscape that surrounds her. Moldover's fans will happily follow him down any byway, and this latest is paved with the author's signature wit, pathos, and wry humor. Just Until is a winding, scenic gem."--T.M. Blanchet, author of Herrick's End, Herrick's Lie, and Herrick's Key (The Neath Trilogy)

About the Author

Joseph Moldover is the author of Every Moment After, a 2019 Massachusetts Center for the Book "Must Read." His short fiction has appeared in Stonecoast Review, MonkeyBicycle, One Teen Story, Typehouse, The MacGuffin, and elsewhere. He works as a clinical psychologist in Massachusetts, where he lives with his family. You can visit him at josephmoldover.com.