Watch Over Me

LaCour, N. (2020). Watch Over Me. New York City: Dutton Books for Young Readers.

“When you get scared in your chest and your stomach, you could try to invite what scares you in. Pay attention to it. Let it play back in your memory. I’m only understanding it myself, but I think we have to face the things that scare us in order to move on from them. It might be the only way to stop being afraid.”

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour is about Mila. She has just graduated from high school--and the foster care system. The family she has been living with now wants a baby and won't adopt her so when she is offered an internship on an isolated farm she immediately accepts it. Mila is a very lonely girl and throughout the novel, we learn about her past and her family. When she arrives at the farm, she gets more than she bargained for and begins to understand how to face her childhood trauma. Oh, and there are ghosts. Not metaphorically, but real ghosts. This is a modern-day ghost story about Mila's journey to reclaim herself and find independence.

I loved this book! LaCour has a writing style that draws you in and allows you to feel the loneliness, feel the fear, feel the sadness. Watch Over Me is a tale of chosen family, loneliness, self-discovery, healing from past trauma, and learning to accept love.

*Nominated for the 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults Selected List

More books by Nina LaCour.