Shadow Girl    by Patricia Morrison Order:  USA  Can Tundra, 2013 (2013) Softcover     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson In Shadow Girl, Patricia Morrison empathetically takes the point of view of an eleven-year-old girl, living with a neglectful, alcoholic father. They live in Etobicoke, Ontario. The only saving graces in Jules' situation are her best friend Patsy and Mrs. Adamson the kind saleswoman who works in the toy department of a store at the mall, where Jules regularly hangs out. When Mrs. Adamson realizes that Jules is in trouble and calls in the social services, the young girl's life changes but not obviously for the better. Her father's presence in her life (through supervised meetings) steadily decreases, and she hates the hypocrisy of the foster family who have sheltered her. The author shows how her situation steadily deteriorates and her misery grows, though she appears to be well cared for to the system. Jules feels like a shadow girl, though she tells us that 'In my mind, there are people who see me, Jules the person, and love me anyhow.' Luckily there are people in her life who see her fully as well and those people finally take wise action. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews