Breaking into Sunlight

by John Cochran Narrated by Matt Haver

Overview

This powerful and compassionate book follows a family's journey through the turbulence of parental addiction-and the moments of connection and healing that break through the dark days.*

Reese is a seventh-grader in rural North Carolina who loves drawing, basketball, his hardworking mom, and his charming, charismatic dad. But then one day, he comes home to his worst nightmare - his dad on the floor, lips turning blue, overdosed. Again. Reese calls 911 and gets his dad out of danger, and he expects to go on as before. But for his mom, this is the breaking point, and she declares that she and Reese are leaving until Reese's dad gets real help with his addiction. They move to a rundown trailer outside of town, where Reese is furious with*his mom, scared for his dad, and terrified his friends will find out.
*
Then he meets Meg and Charlie, who have likewise been stranded by circumstances beyond their control. As the trio explores the blackwater river that runs nearby,*Reese discovers new beauty and joy in nature and these fresh connections. His dad is also doing better, holding things together, and talking to his mom again. But how long can the good times last? And what will Reese do if - when - they end?

In the United States today, an estimated one in eight kids live with a parent with a substance-abuse problem. Written with bracing honesty, deep sympathy, and tenderness for all its characters,*Breaking into Sunlight offers readers a powerful affirmation that no one is alone.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Cochran's debut delivers a poignant, relatable read ... an important novel for every library to have."—School Library Journal

"Debut author Cochran delivers a sensitive narrative that captures the complex guilt of self-care among those with addicted loved ones. ... A simple and powerful tale about the impact of parental addiction."—Kirkus Reviews

"This is not a cautionary tale or a sob story, but a shimmering journey, reminding us that life, in all its complexity, can be both enchanting and devastating all at once.”—Jake Halpern, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and New York Times bestselling author of NIGHTFALL

"BREAKING INTO SUNLIGHT is a beautifully written, powerful and sensitive portrayal of addiction’s impact on a family and especially a child. Cochran has written an important book, one that captures the heartache and struggles of kids like Reese during the opioid crisis that decimated America, especially the rural communities Cochran knows so well."—Katherine Marsh, author of THE NIGHT TOURIST and THE LOST YEAR

"BREAKING INTO SUNLIGHT is a clear-eyed story of addiction and its terrible aftermath, but one full of sympathy, generosity, and hope. This is a book defiant in its honesty and bursting with heart, wrapped around one of the most authentic thirteen year olds I've read in years."—Laurel Snyder, author of ORPHAN ISLAND and THE WITCH OF WOODLAND

School Library Journal

★ 05/01/2024

Gr 5–8—Cochran's debut delivers a poignant, relatable read. Seventh grader Reese has become an expert at concealing his father's pain medication addiction and the problems it's causing between his parents. Even his best friends have no idea the secrets Reese is hiding. As Reese's world comes crashing down, his strength and tenacity are tested. To get some distance from the situation, his mother decides to take Reese with her (against his wishes), to live in a trailer on a rural property belonging to a friend. It is here that Reese begins to grapple with the feelings he's been bottling up. He finds an unlikely friendship in two kids: Charlie, who has Down syndrome, and Charlie's older sister, Meg, orphans who live with their grandparents. Together, they explore nature and find solace in swimming and canoeing in the river that joins the property. Themes include honesty, friendship, trust, and forgiveness. All characters read as white. VERDICT An important novel for every library to have. Readers will find they're not alone in dealing with a loved one's addiction, as an estimated one in eight children have a parent dealing with substance abuse.—Tracy Cronce

Kirkus Reviews

2024-05-30
As seventh grade winds down in North Carolina, Reese Buck is eager to spend the summer drawing and playing basketball.

A week before school ends, however, he finds his father unresponsive from an opioid overdose. This wasn’t the first incident, and it drives Reese’s mother to move the two of them into a trailer on the property of her church friends, the Smiths. Reese struggles with leaving his father, fearing for his safety, and he hides the truth from close friends Tony and Ryan out of shame. As Reese gradually lets go of his anger, he embraces life on the Smith family farm. He befriends the Smiths’ grandchildren, Meg and Charlie (who has Down syndrome), and the kids enjoy canoeing, swimming, and caring for Charlie’s cats. Reese builds a new, stable life but feels guilty about enjoying himself in his father’s absence. Although his parents start repairing their relationship, an incident on Reese’s 13th birthday disrupts everything, leading Reese to begin questioning whether his father will ever be well or if he even wants to be. Debut author Cochran delivers a sensitive narrative that captures the complex guilt of self-care among those with addicted loved ones. Meg and Charlie are original characters whose emotional backstories enhance the story; the subplot involving Tony and Ryan could have been developed further but instead feels forgotten. Most characters are cued white

A simple and powerful tale about the impact of parental addiction. (author’s note, resources)(Fiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159185846
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

His dad turned to look at him. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this story because I don’t want to scare you on your first time out, but this one time early on, I took your mom roller skating . . .”
Reese’s mom laughed. “This was one of our first dates, your dad and me.”
“It was our third date, actually,” his dad said. “I took her to a rink in Goldsville. She’d never seen me skate, and I really wanted to impress her, so I was showing off, weaving in and out. And then I turned to skate backward, and I—”
“Wait a minute,” Reese said. “You can skate backward?” He hadn’t even known his dad could skate forward, and here he was talking about practically doing stunts.
“I can. Or I used to be able to, on a good day. So I turned, so smooth. I mean it was perfect, and I waved at your mom like, ‘Check me out!’ And then, bam! I hit the low wall around the rink and flipped. I actually flipped head over heels, right out of the rink.”
Reese’s mom laughed again. “He was waving at me like a fool, and then he hit that wall and went over. People screamed. Oh, the look on his face: total shock. I’ll never forget it.”
“Okay, that is funny,” Reese said. “I would totally pay to see that.”
“Right?” said his mom.
“I broke my wrist,” his dad said.
“And we spent the rest of the date at the emergency room,” his mom said. “The end.”
“Not the end,” his dad said. “Just the beginning!”
“My smooth operator.” She leaned over to his dad, put one hand on his chin to turn his face to her, and kissed him.
It was honestly a little gross, but his dad, so healthy then, really at his best, had broken through. And just like that, they were a family again, like any other. Reese was not going to be the one who screwed that up, after everything they had gone through, after all the fights and the crying: He would go skating, if it could work this kind of magic. Or he would try.
He just hoped—Please, God—that there was no one he knew inside.
 

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