Forgotten: Seventeen and Homeless

By:  Melody Carlson

From Goodreads:  With absent parents, overdue rent, and no one to turn to, Adele is forced into the hard, cold world of homelessness. While striving to maintain the pretense of a “normal” life, Adele attempts to finish high school, all the while concealing her secret. But is she strong enough to keep up the act?


Forgotten will propel teen readers into a world where promises are broken, life is not fair, and challenges seem unbearable, while still offering assurance that solid faith, loyal friends, and a persistent spirit will prevail.

I thought Forgotten was rather good.  I liked that it was written from Adele's point of view.  I thought this book was a fairly realistic look at what happens when there aren't any responsible adults in a teenager's life.  So many YA books have absent or flaky parents or guardians and life is usually peachy keen anyway.  I think this book illustrates the realities of what happens when you really have to take care of yourself.

I was really pleased with Adele's character from a moral standpoint.  She had plenty of opportunities and reasons to steal or do drugs or become a prostitute and she did none of these things. 

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the ending.  Her parents were never mentioned in the ending which didn't make sense to me.  It seemed like a preachy cop out.  Other than that, the rest of the book was quite compelling.  I found myself very intrigued by the whole story wondering what Adele was going to do.