WHEN JEFF COMES HOME is loosely based on an incident that happened near my hometown. A kidnapped boy returned home at age fourteen after being missing for seven years. He'd disappeared at age seven on his way home from school. The boy returned to a hero's welcome and endless questioning. I was fifteen, living in a town close by, wondering how he could ever return to a normal life. I never forgot the story and eventually used it as the inspiration for WJCH.
WHEN JEFF COMES HOME is recommended in Carolyn Lehman's STRONG AT THE HEART: HOW IT FEELS TO HEAL FROM SEXUAL ABUSE.
In December 2005 WJCH was challenged in a school district in Texas. Check my blog for the details.
WHEN JEFF COMES HOME study guide
WJCH named a Pick of the Decade: 1995-2005 for Eighth Grade readers by the New Jersey State Library Youth Services group.
CRITICAL REACTION
School Library Journal:
"Jeff's awkwardness and raw pain at having his outlook on life forever altered are drawn with a remarkable sensitivity and honesty."
Kirkus Reviews:
"An accomplished, intense, and powerful first novel about what happens when a kidnapped boy is returned to his family."
Booklist:
"Atkins debuts with a harrowing journey inside the head of a kidnapped teenager released after more than two years of physical and psychological torture."
"A tautly written debut."--Publishers Weekly.
HONORS AND AWARDS:
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
A Booklist Top Ten First Novel
An IRA Young Adults Choice
Named to the Texas Tayshas List.
Finalist for New Jersey's Garden State Book Award.
Finalist for Indiana's Eliot Rosewater Book Award.
Selected as one of the 2003 California Collection for High Schools.
TRANSLATIONS
WHEN JEFF COMES HOME has been translated into Danish and Swedish.
In Denmark, WJCH is known as DA JEFF KOM HJEM.
In Sweden, it's STAMPLAD, which means "Stamped" or labeled.
WRITING THE BOOK
My first drafts of WJCH were narrated by Jeff's sister Charlie. An editor suggested I rewrite from Jeff's point-of-view. It was an important suggestion, because before I'd always felt I had to stick close to my own POV in writing a novel---the quiet observer taking notes. Writing from the active character's POV was liberating. What was it like to deal with someone as impossible as Ray? How can you live up to the expectations of a father who thinks you are perfect and doesn't want to hear about it if you aren't? How can you face your family and friends with this enormous secret you cannot tell? I asked these questions and more to get into Jeff's head.
In my rewrites I added scenes from before the kidnapping, and flashbacks to Jeff's time with Ray to help readers understand Jeff's character once he is home. I wanted *Jeff* to realize how little choice he had in anything that happened. He doesn't realize it as he has these thoughts, but I believe he will when he re-examines his memories with a therapist.
Probably the biggest controversy I've heard on WJCH is, "Where is the therapist?". My answer to that is, the therapist is coming. Soon. But not during the events of this book. Remember, WJCH takes place over a period of about three weeks. Jeff's dad is trying to regain his son's trust and does not want to force him to do anything. Jeff would not go voluntarily to a doctor or a therapist during the time of this book. Immediately after the book ends, I see a trip to San Francisco to talk with Agent Stephens, and I see a referral from Stephens to a psychologist trained to work with victims of sexual abuse. I see Jeff being all right. He is a survivor.
BUY THE BOOK:
BOOKSENSE
AMAZON
BARNES&NOBLE