Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Ruptured is a wonderful verse book about a teen's life when an aneurysm strikes her mother. Protagonist Claire learns how to cope and grow when things get tough and finds comfort in books, new friends, and new hobbies. A great quick read.

I got this on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!


I began this book in 2023 when I first got approved for the ARC, but then I realized I was still dealing with my own emotions and it hit too close to home. My mom had a 10+ cm braintumor (non cancerous) removed at the beginning of 2023 and although everything went fine and she was «back to normal» soon after, it still hit me too close ro home to read this book!

This book hits you right in the gut and really showcase how hard it can be to deal with the «my mom is alive» while also having to deal with your emotions of the thing that could have killed her, the what-ifs and the feelings after. This is a reflective book and it is easy to tell that the author wrote about something they were closely familiar with!

The only thing I’m missing a bit is that I felt like the part of the book where Claire moves back home and goes to school goes SO quickly and it skips over days and weeks at a time all of a sudden. I wish we got to see more of her actual struggles instead of just hearing the narration of it.

Otherwise a gripping and intense book, and I recommend it!

What an incredible story! The story itself is nearly unbelievable until you read the author’s note and find out that it is based on her own experiences. I thought the relationship between the parents and the friends was realistically portrayed, and I think lots of kids will be able to find something in the book to relate to.

RUPTURED just about broke my heart ... and stitched it right back together again. I haven't read Joanne Rossmassler Fritz's work before, but this will absolutely not be the last book I read from her. The verse is accessible and wrenching, told with an honesty that sings with personal experience. I ached for Claire and her family. For how scary change can be, and how resilient kids are capable of being.

Raw. Gorgeous. Tender. This is going to mean a LOT to many readers.

I've seen a few books on this premise, being angry at someone only to have them suffer a life changing injury. So the question becomes what do you do with your anger when the other person doesn't remember the incident in questions. It's complex and contemplative. Not a fun read, though an important one.

Claire is seeing her parents in their doldrums, despite it being holiday week. The father, who barely speaks anyway, is off on a day's sea-fishing trip, leaving Claire and the mother to have a day together. Mom seems down, and interested perhaps in buying some happiness into her life. Claire is fidgeting to get back to her latest favourite book. But when waiting for lunch to turn up at the seaside cafe they chose, Mom says something that will potentially change everything, for Claire, and for the whole family. And then, before anything can be done, Mom changes that 'potentially' into a 'definitely', when she suffers a bursting headache – and has an aneurysm bleed out.

And so, based on the author surviving not one but two of the horrendous events, we see Claire battling to come to terms with her changed mother. This is a book then about the family that needed a reboot getting a big reset, the likes of which it would never wish on anyone. Claire finds succour with someone else in similar shoes to hers, and family members chip in – but things are still nowhere near as they were before. But still, what was said over that cafe table is safely in the past, right?

I'm sure the author wanted to educate, as well as entertain, and I think this is a perfect blend of the two. I would have had no idea of survival rates, the terminology – like Claire I might have had an idea of people having an aneurysm, but that's OK, that's nothing – it's when they burst that triggers the emergency. All this, then, is fed into these pages very well, and the only thing laboured is the fact no teen-friendly books seem to exist where a mother has one of these things and survives. Spoiler alert. This distinguished itself by having an eye to the adult relationship – so often books for this market would just concern the teenaged characters, but this focuses on the broader family very well. Hope is gained through the new friendship, a new hobby, a new interest in cooking chicken, and while this might be very emotional for many it does not drain you with despair and depressing beats. It was nicely enlightening, all told, and it would be great to see it do well. A strong four stars.

Thanks to NetGally and the publisher for an e-ARC of this novel in verse.

Knowing two families who have had close calls with similar circumstances, this book is so important. I've purchased copies for these families, and hope they'll share them together, to open some discussion, and find some comfort in others' experiences.

I really enjoyed this book. This handled a delicate topic well and captured it in poetry. The challenges that Claire and her family faces are unique, and would really help children whose parents have health issues. I highly recommend this book!

Ruptured is a novel in verse about a girl named Claire whose mother suffers an brain aneurysm leaving Claire feeling lost and worried as her mother's recovery comes with ups and down. Claire is also keeping a secret that weights on her. A well done and relatable book about a kid dealing with an illness in the family.

This is a book about a parent who suffers an aneurysm and survives.

Spendlid emotional book in verse where the author draws from her life experience (after suffering two aneurysms). She writes the story of a thirteen-year-old only child who is dealing with so many anxious events.

First, all the sadness, anxiety, and frustration come from the evident upcoming divorce of her parents. Then, during her vacation with them in a hostile cold mood relationship between the adults, her mother suffers an aneurysm.

Told in the first person, Claire is an amazing thirteen-year-old girl, stressed but reliable, responsible, and considerate. Still, it's so interesting that the authors show that Claire hurts a friend by being absent and selfish when we think her friend is the one keeping the distance. Sometimes life overwhelms us and friendships can hurt for lack of communication. Still, Claire is a great person who knows when to apologize. Before the aneurysm, we feel the same towards the parents who aren't paying attention to their children, focused on their problems and stress.

Amazing read, I will be looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this e-ARC.

This is a really beautifully written book about family in times of darkness and finding hope.
Claire's family is on vacation when her mother has a ruptured aneurysm. Claire feels like her family is ruptured too and finds it hard to see the light and hope of her mother getting better.
But with the help of her Aunt Bobbi and her new friend De'Shawn, whose mother went through the same thing, she starts to see light and hope in the world again.
I learned about aneurysms in this book and how they can affect the body and the brain.
I felt like Claire was a great character and has very real emotions in trying to just be a middle schooler, but also hold her family together.

A great read for all ages.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book ticked a few boxes for me before it even got started. I like lighthouses and anything coastal and am also a fan of books written in verse. Once I started reading, another box was ticked: main characters who are readers and references to real books that they're reading.

The story is about Claire and how she and her family manage when her mum becomes very unwell. There is a really strong message throughout, about family, being there for one another and accepting help from those around you. I really liked the characters of DeShawn, Aunt Bobbi and Leala and her family.

There were a couple of things that I found a bit odd. I know it was important for the story but I'm not convinced a parent would share their secret in the way that Claire's mother does. Even when she apologises for this near the end, she goes on to say that her husband never says that he loves her and it just seemed a bit odd that she'dshare this with her young daughter. I also found Trish a bit strange and thought it unlikely that she would suddenly abandon her friend for the reasons she did, only to then complain that Claire hadn't asked her about music camp. It just didn't quite fit.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. I liked the descriptions of the holiday in Maine, which reminded me very much of Cornish fishing villages and coastal towns here in England.

My teen grandaughter and I read this together and both loved it. She appreciated it because it did not talk down to teens and she said that it was how she felt when we had a distressing diagnosis in our family. I loved it because it was so tender and understanding. Reading the authors notes at the end of the book added greatly to our understanding of the book.

Wow. I know this was aimed at younger audiences, but readers of any age could take valuable lessons from this one. I absolutely loved Claire's character, and this story is a huge reminder that everyone has things going on behind the scenes despite how it looks on the surface. The pose is beautiful and the illustrations thought provoking - I can't wait to add a physical copy of this one to my shelves!

Super sweet middle grade that.I will be recommending to my teacher friends. The story was heartwarming and I enjoyed the characters a lot. It was sadder than I thought it was going to be for a middle grade so I would be careful what students I was giving it to.

This book is a great example of windows into other people’s life experiences. I enjoyed the quick pace of this book that had me empathizing with the main character and the struggles she was facing through her mom’s health battle. This book will help students become more understanding friends of someone who’s family is facing a health crisis. I also thought the author did a great job of conveying Claire’s emotions without overdoing it. Even her friendships struck the right balance of I’m having a hard time, but not miserable- it wasn’t ever too much, which I admired. I think this is a book that several of my 3rd-5th grade readers will enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House/Peachtree/ Pixel+Ink, and Joanne Rossmassler Fritz for the opportunity to read Ruptured in exchange for an honest review.

Ruptured is a middle grade novel told in brilliant poetic verse. The story is told from Claire's perspective. When an outing with her mom brings forth some unwanted information about the relationship between her mom and dad, Claire doesn't know what to think. She's devastated. She doesn't want her parents to leave each other. Before she can dwell too much on the topic, Claire's mother collapses with a severely sharp headache.

Claire learns that her mother has a brain aneurism. She learns about the survival rate and the different operations taken to reduce the bleeding in the brain. With her father by her side, Claire struggles with keeping the information her mom told her on their day out a secret. Claire makes a friend in the hospital, whose mother is also suffering from an aneurism. When her mother wakes up, she has a memory lapse and hallucinations, worrying Claire to no end. Even if she survives, will the person she is after the aneurism still be her mother? Will her mother remember what she said about not loving her father anymore? The most important thing to Claire is that her mother makes it. As a reader, she seeks a book in which the parent survives a brain aneurism, but cannot seem to find one, told more than once that maybe she will be the person to write that story. One can only hope.

An amazing hi-lo novel-in-verse about family dynamics, sudden medical emergencies, and coping when situations cross our path that are out of our control. I have never known anyone who has had an ansurism before, and it sounds rather frightening. It was interesting to learn about what they are and how they affect a person. The afterward was interesting as well. Fritz shares her own story of having an aneurism herself, using a fictional structure to share some of the experiences she actually had during that time in her life. An absolutely intriguing novel with an intriguing tale from the survivor who wrote it.

Ruptured is a story of family, friendship, and the meaning of the important aspects of life when the notion suddenly strikes that a life can end at any moment.

A fabulous and heartfelt novel in verse about a young girl navigating the changes in her life and family, following her mother’s brush with death and recovery from a brain aneurysm.

"Lighthouses warn ships away from rocks, away from danger in a storm.
Their beacons shine through thick fog and light up the darkness.
I love the meaning.
Light equals hope, the hope that Mom could live."

What I loved:
It’s always incredibly powerful for me to see medically accurate and relatable representation for (chronic) illness and disability in children’s fiction. As a girl who grew up in the generation where those were topics not talked about in children’s books, as “kids wouldn’t understand anyways”, I desperately missed it, as it was such an important part of my real life.
Ruptured is a perfect example of the kind of representation of parental illness I would’ve loved to see. It’s heartfelt, accessible, not melodramatic, but doesn’t shy away from the “difficult” parts of coping with a sick parent either. It’s beautiful prose strikes a great balance of emotion, covering fear and sorrow, but also those highlights of joy, love and deep connection.
Claire herself encounters that same search for recognition and representation in books on page. Here she states another gap within the genre: “I need a book about a mother who survives”
“Sicklit”, especially catered to kids or teens, tends to end either one of two ways: a full recovery, or a heroic death. There’s no room for the more realistic version of events: the chronic state, the long recovery, the ups and downs, and the change it brings to your life no matter what. Ruptured covers that piece well, a little in the line of This Appearing House, although from a different perspective. Considering that was one of my favourite reads of last year, that’s comparison is a huge compliment.
I highly recommend this book to readers aged about 11 and up. Yes, grown-ups/parents who are interested in the topic: that includes you. This comes with a stamp of approval from both the medical accuracy side, as well as the personal one.

Many thanks to Holiday House Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ruptured
by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
Pub Date 14 Nov 2023 |
Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink,Holiday House
Children's Fiction| Health, Mind & Body


Netgalley and Holiday House provided me with a copy of Ruptured:


Is grieving for someone still alive wrong?


Claire's parents aren't talking much. There is no laughter or dancing like there once was. Claire, a thirteen-year-old only child, is caught in the middle of their tense standoffs. So Claire sticks her nose in a book during the family's summer vacation. Maybe the sunshine and ocean breeze will fix everything. 


When Claire's mother reveals a huge secret to Claire, she ruptures a brain aneurysm while the family is away. Despite surviving the rupture, she seems entirely different. Her mom isn't sure if she meant what she said, or even if she remembers it. Claire must navigate fear, grief, and prospects for recovery after her mom's confession.


Will her mom ever be the same? Does her family stay together? How will Claire learn to live with what she knows if either question is yes? The author's incredible experience surviving two ruptured aneurysms inspired this beautifully written novel.


I give Ruptured five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!