Whisked from a child’s cozy life in Queens to the streets of Man­hat­tan, clutch­ing the hand of her intense and trou­bled moth­er, Jus­tine begins a jour­ney over which she has lit­tle con­trol. Along with her two adored old­er broth­ers, she finds her­self wrapped in a fan­ta­sy-fueled odyssey engi­neered by her moth­er, spend­ing nights in cheap hotels they can’t afford, or park bench­es and sub­way trains, always on the look­out for food. Mean­while, her father looms in the dis­tance with his new fam­i­ly, inef­fec­tu­al – until at long last he takes life-alter­ing action. Grace­ful­ly ren­dered and by turns ten­der and tough, Scat­tered haunts us with its truth, humor and keen sensibility?while nev­er let­ting us for­get that it is love that draws us all back.

Read Jus­tine Hope Blau’s Posts for the Vis­it­ing Scribe