This place is not my home

Gr 5-8-Brothers Isaac and Victor get taken from their family after their mother commits a crime in this realistic look at life in the foster care system. The story is told through emails exchanged between the siblings, who are in different foster homes, as they grapple with being apart. While Isaac is placed with a loving foster family, he encounters bullying and social difficulties in a new situation. Victor cycles through several homes as he gets involved with ill-conceived schemes that get him in trouble. The engaging page layouts feature doodle-style drawings, representing images the two brothers are sending to each other in their emails, and the book covers are eye-catching. The series presents a realistic yet accessible look at a family encountering stressful circumstances. VERDICT Written at a second and third grade reading level, "Brothers" is an unflinching exploration of a family navigating foster care. © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.