In Broken Soup, three freaky things happened to upset fifteen-year-old Rowan’s life.  The first thing was that her older brother died from a freak swimming accident in France.  As a result, her mother withdraw into herself and her father withdrew from her daily life, moving out of the house, leaving Rowan to care for her mother and her younger sister, Stroma. 

The second thing was an unknown boy standing behind her at the local coffee shop handing her a photo negative which he said dropped out of her bag.  She knew she didn’t drop it.

The third occurrence was Bee, a high school senior she never knew or socialized with, coming up to her at lunch and asking about the negative.  She was also in line at the coffee shop. 

This confluence of events and their later unraveling, leads to totally unimagined and unforeseen results.  You see, the negative was a photo of her brother, looking extremely happy.  The boy, Harper, who gave Rowan the negative, is a New Yorker traveling around Europe (Rowan lives in London) whose current address is an ambulance with all the creature comforts of home.  And Bee, well, I’ll let you find out who Bee is.

Jenny Valentine has written an intriguing second novel.  The main characters are interesting and, in some cases quirky:  from Stroma, the precocious six-year-old, to Harper, living in an ambulance, to Carl, Bee’s father who smokes marijuana and is more like a father than Rowan’s own father.  There is some intrigue as Rowan seeks more information about the photo and about her brother.  There is love on many levels: boys and girls, mothers and fathers, parents and children.  And finally, there is the realization that not all burdens should fall on the shoulders of a fifteen-year-old.  Broken Soup is a quick but fulfilling read.

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