Anais' Annotations: "You'd Be Home Now" by Kathleen Glasgow

Young adult fiction among adult readers is something of a controversy on today’s internet.

Some argue the less mature plots and reduced vocabulary are damaging to readers and writers who should’ve advanced to more serious genres. While I am the first person to admit that YA fiction is rarely up my alley, I was surprised by Kathleen Glasgow’s “You’d Be Home Now” (2021).  

I was skeptical about reading it when it was first recommended to me, but I found this work to stand out even among the rest of its genre. 

The story picks up with Emmy, a teenager actively recovering from a traumatic event that has left her entire family feeling outcast from their small town. Her big brother, Joey, is navigating an up-and-down battle with addiction. On the outside, life seems perfect, but the All-American exterior that Emmy’s family tries to maintain is cracking. 

I typically find YA characters to be archetypal and a little difficult to connect with.

Especially as an adult reader, it can be much harder to feel like the characters are reacting and thinking realistically. Emmy, however, is different. So much of the story takes place in Emmy’s mind, the space where all of her fears, hopes and anxieties live.  

Because of this inner perspective, readers do not see a main character who rises above the odds and completely changes her life. Rather, the reading experience is more personal and reminds people of any age what a scary thing it is to be a teenager. 

Emmy’s high school years are anything but normal, leading her to have even more struggles. From the consequences of her brother’s substance misuse to boy problems that go to the next level, it just seems like Emmy cannot catch a break. Throughout all of it, her feelings are so intense. The depth of her emotions comes right off the page, so much so I found myself experiencing second-hand embarrassment for a fictional character (which is probably an embarrassing thing to admit in the first place). 

While it is definitely YA and cannot escape some of the issues that accompany the genre– like the inescapability of a happy-ish ending– “You’d Be Home Now” contains much darker themes. It seems the author is truly in touch with the problems modern teenagers are facing, as she addresses a wide array of issues throughout the story that correspond to daily life. 

With these heavier themes in mind, readers should go into the novel knowing that sensitive topics are pretty much the entire book. Substance misuse, sexual abuse, family problems, emotional issues, depression, anxiety and other potentially triggering themes and situations are prevalent. That said, I found the author handled these themes delicately and with a lot of respect for the realities of these situations, truly trying to explore the problems as opposed to dramatization for effect. 

“You’d Be Home Now” is the first YA piece I have read since leaving middle school, and I must say I am pleased to have encountered it. Glasgow is an author who provides true nuance to the issues she discusses, bringing a more mature light to a genre that is often looked down upon. I rate this book an 8 out of 10.