Review of Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

In Lock and Key Sarah Dessen deals with the serious issue of child neglect and abuse. When Ruby and her sister Cora are young their father leaves, and after this their mother changes. She drinks more and loses her temper with them. Cora always tries to save Ruby from the blows. When Cora goes away to college, it is just her mother and Ruby. Her mother becomes distant and leaves Ruby to her own devices a lot of the time. Ruby goes to school, has a part time job, and helps her mother deliver lost luggage late at night. Her mother smokes, drinks, and brings her men friends home. Ruby is determined that once she is eighteen she, too, will leave. However, a few months before she turns eighteen her mother disappears. Ruby is magically reunited with her sister and wonderful brother-in-law Jamie. Ruby befriends David, the boy next door. We learn he is also a victim of parental abuse. He lives with his divorced father, who has a really short temper and verbally and physically abuses him. David’s solution is also to wait until he is eighteen and then leave. Ruby realizes this is not the answer, but cannot rescue David. Things come to a head when David’s father goes too far. Some elements in the book were a little too coincidental or fake, for instance, Cora not being able to get in touch with Ruby after she leaves for college, despite her mother’s many moves and name changes; the ease of Ruby and Cora’s reunion, as well as the coincidence of the boy next door also suffering parental abuse. However, the book ends on a positive note due to the uncovering of the abuse and the final outcome, and it made for an engrossing and satisfying read. Review by Teresa Kerrigan