Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Touching
Marilyn Levy · 1988
66/100
👎 Skip It
An emotionally authentic YA novel about life with an addicted parent, backed by real ALA Best Books recognition that reflects genuine librarian and educator respect. The parental alcoholism theme is handled with sensitivity by an author who brings psychological training to the subject — but the plot is thin beyond that central dynamic, and 38 years on, the book feels dated enough that many teens would connect more easily with a contemporary treatment of the same ground.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: parental alcoholism is central theme · family dysfunction · mild romantic content. We still scored it 66; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety71
Substance / usefulness66
Craft & writing65
Originality62
Evidence & accuracy72
Hype vs delivers68
Age-fit72
👁 Human-eye gut-check68
Penny’s verdict66
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