What Erika Wants

by Bruce Clements

Overview

Drawing the line between what we want and what other people want for usA woman with a forehead full of acne scars and a New York edge to her voice crosses the courthouse floor with her hand out. “Erika? I’m your lawyer. Call me Jean. Can we talk?” You’re fourteen, with a play to try out for, a crazy best friend with a ton of money, a boy whom you can’t get out of your heart, and parents who hate each other and are dragging you through court in a custody case. You follow your lawyer to the elevator, and five minutes later you’re in her beat-up car and she’s asking you who you are and what you want. Why tell her the truth when right now all you want is space and time to figure it out for yourself without hurting the people you love?

Written in alternating points-of-view, Bruce Clements's What Erika Wants is a sharp and disarmingly understated novel that charts the course of a caring and careworn teenager who is discovering that the first step to breaking free of a bad situation is to realize she’s trapped in one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466874374
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	06/24/2014
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	245 KB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Bruce Clements is the author of I Tell a Lie Every So Often, a National Book Award Finalist, and its sequel, A Chapel of Thieves, which was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. The author is a board member of the Children’s Law Center of Connecticut, to which all royalties from What Erika Wants will be donated.

Read an Excerpt

From What Erika Wants

"They're not going to hold it against Mom for bringing me, are they?" she asked. "It's just that she wanted me to see what was happening."
Jean reached her hand out but stopped before she touched her. "It's a simple misunderstanding about the rules. Judge Gifford saw what had happened, decided to assign me to you, and moved on to other things. It won't get in the way of the case. It can be helpful to have your own lawyer. You can call me day or night. I like to get calls from clients, and my husband can sleep through anything."
"Are most of them around my age?" Erika asked.
Jean smiled. "You're old. A lot of my clients are five and six. Three, some. When they're that young, I usually get appointed guardian. I go to court and say what I think is best for them and why, and the judge decides. When I'm the attorney, the children tell me what they want, and I try to get it for them."
Erika wondered if Jean really believed that. A lot of adults believed what they said about themselves. Mr. Janik, her guidance counselor, thought he knew everything about every kid in the ninth grade. He also thought they all loved him. Amazing. Still, he was better than the ones who told you they wanted you to be free to choose for yourself, but really just wanted to push their plans for you.

Editorial Reviews

Don't be fooled by this novel's apparent flatness of affect. Clements, a subtle and versatile writer, knows what he's doing…Switching between Erika's and Jean's viewpoints, the novel shows a girl gaining perspective and confidence, helped by her acting and her "smart lawyer," to the point where she can make a self-preserving choice. Understatement pays off; the climax, on the play's last night, packs an astonishing emotional wallop.
—The Washington Post

Elizabeth Ward

Erika is 14 and smack in the middle of a custody case between her parents. All she wants to do is concentrate on trying out for the school play, but that's difficult shuffling between parents who hate each other. Enter Jean Rostow-Kaplan, Erika's lawyer. It's her job to represent Erika's interests in the custody case, but more importantly, she asks Erika what she wants, the question that everyone else seems to forget. She also gives Erika a journal to write down her thoughts and feelings. Erika gets the part she auditions for, but making it to the performance is another thing with a mother and older sister who expect her to move in and take over all responsibility for the family, and a father who has withdrawn and barely has a word to say. On top of that, her best friend Carrie is being sent out of state to a boarding school before her small crimes get her in big trouble. The story is rounded out with diary excerpts, psychologist reports, and notes and letters written between the characters. Clement's Jean is the voice of reason in a situation to which many adolescents will be able to relate. She helps Erika sort out her feelings about her parents and make the best decision for herself. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2005, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 224p., Ages 12 to 15.
—Michele Winship

KLIATT

What does Erika want? Does she want to stay with her dad, or does she want to move in with her mother who moved back to town last year after an absence of several years? Is fourteen-year-old Erika the one to make the decision? Does the court-appointed advocate really want what is best for Erika, what Erika wants for herself? Does Erika know what is best? Clements writes about an important part of life for many children—a tug-of-war between parents for custody. He also includes another important part of this equation—the appointed court advocate. Jean Rostow-Kaplan is not an attractive lawyer from a well-known law firm. She is a person who is comfortable with herself, her family, and her work. She knows the law and she knows children. Her work with the Children's Law Center brings her many children who have no say in their lives and it is her duty to speak for them. Author Clements is on the board of directors of the Children's Law Center of Connecticut and he understands the importance of the advocate in the world of divorce and custody battles. He brings Erika to life and he lets the reader get to know her and her family. He also lets the reader see the love Erika's dad has for her, the life her mother has chosen, and how the advocate helps Erika find what she wants. This book offers the positive side of family law. Mixed with this is a realistic view of Erika, her school and her friends, her parents, and the need to understand that part of growing up is dealing with challenges and battles—and that often it is how you handle these challenges that counts. 2005, Farrar Straus Giroux, Ages 12 up.
—Naomi Williamson

Children's Literature

Gr 6-9-Clements utilizes a third-person point of view for 14-year-old Erika, whose immature divorced parents are dueling for custody. Her court-appointed lawyer, Jean Rostow-Kaplan, must determine what the teen really wants and needs, and then present her recommendations to the judge. Although this may seem like an enviable position-being fought over by both parents-in reality Erika is suffering from the stress of trying to figure out how to please both her mom and her dad while dealing with classwork, a crush on a cute boy, starring in the school play, and having a friend who is repeatedly arrested for shoplifting. Jean's occasional point of view unobtrusively inserts a mature overview of the situation as she tries to gain Erika's trust and read between the lines. A deceptively simple book with many layers, this novel will be best appreciated by readers who enjoy delving beneath the surface and watching Erika figure out that although she can't make everyone happy, she can control her own future with Jean's help. This short but insightful portrait is an excellent choice for thoughtful readers.-Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Clements serves up a touching, realistic portrait of a shy high-school girl trapped between dueling parents. Erika insists she wants to live with her mother, instead of her too-busy father who loves her but seems to neglect her. Yet Erika's mother could care less about her daughter, wanting her only for housework. No one but Erika's court-appointed lawyer seems to care that Erika is struggling to succeed in school and with the intense demands of the leading role in a play. Clements trusts his readers to discern Erika's true situation, simply by presenting the characters in her life through short scenes. He sometimes shifts the point of view to Jean, the lawyer, for a mature overview of the situation. The result shines through as the portrait of a real girl emerging from a life controlled by others into the beginnings of a life of her own. (Fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews