Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 10))
Headstrong 17-year-old Zoe longs to escape the smothering helplessness of her alcoholic mother. After school, she works nights in a local diner to make ends meet, and then spends the rest of her night cleaning up whatever daily mess-physical, emotional or financial-her mom creates. But each night on her way home, she allows herself 15 minutes of solitary, peaceful diversion in the guise of an empty, warmly lit window on Lorelei Street-a window that symbolizes her desire for freedom and piece of mind. The symbol becomes reality when a rental sign appears in front of the house. Zoe scrounges to find both the rent money and courage to abandon her mother, and she moves into the room, only to discover that making it on her own in the adult world is much more complicated than she could have ever expected. Out of Zoe's troubled scrutiny, Pearson sophisticatedly crafts a quietly cramped, small-town Texas community. All literary elements-characters, setting, mis-en-scene-seamlessly and poetically coalesce into her ephemerally hot and cold teenage persona whose tough outer shell masks enough skeletons in the closet to eat her alive. 2005, Henry Holt, 272p, $16.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, July 2005 (Vol. 39, No. 4))
In a small town in Texas, Zoe, a nearly lost 17-year-old daughter of an alcoholic, is trying to find her own way. All her life, she has covered for her mother, cared for her little brother, and listened to her opinionated grandmother; now, she feels her only hope of survival is to escape, to get away. Her little brother is safe with an uncle and his wife, her father has been dead for several years, her mother is not getting any better--so Zoe finds a room in the home of a wonderful elderly woman. She has to save every penny she earns as a waitress at a local diner and still it never is enough for rent, for food. She is on the tennis team and she has some good friends, but it seems before she can become her own person, fall in love, get along in school, someone has to nurture her. Opal, her landlady, is one of the few adults in her life who enjoys her company and supports her emotionally. This is a raw story. Zoe's mother is a piece of work, completely selfish and irresponsible. She brings strange men into their home unexpectedly for sex. Zoe has to clean up her mother's vomit and try to keep her alive. The story begins when Zoe gets into trouble the first day of school, when a teacher is disrespectful and Zoe curses at her. Something snaps, and the fury Zoe feels in general erupts. Some counseling is offered at school, but Zoe is too wary to reveal the truth of her life to strangers. The pressures build and we worry about Zoe's survival until the last pages of this poignant novel. Zoe is no virgin, and her inability to be comfortable with herself is reflected in her failed sex life. Even when she gets away from her mother, the guilt and responsibility nearly crush her. The author makes us all understand how crippling it is to be the child of an alcoholic. The room on Lorelei Street represents hope in the possibility there can be something good for Zoe in her future. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: SA--Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2005, Henry Holt, 266p., $16.95. Ages 15 to adult.

Brenda Ethridge Ferguson (Library Media Connection, January 2006)
Some teenagers dream about dances, dates, and the latest fashions. Zoe dreams about a room on Lorelei Street. Zoe, a high school senior, comes home each day to a dark, smelly house and a drunken mother. Zoe must deal with inept counseling sessions at school, and struggles to get to tennis matches, waitress at a local diner, and deal with a mother who takes care of nothing, including herself. Within Zoe live cold fear, deep sorrow, and a fierce determination to be on her own. When she finally leaves home and rents the room on Lorelei Street, she faces an angry grandmother who calls her ungrateful and demands that she return to her mother who needs her. But Zoe is determined to be on her own, trying desperately to make enough money to pay her room rent and keep her car going. Masterfully written, this poignant story of a teenager who sometimes strives to meet her needs in destructive ways ends when she finds the strength deep within herself to survive. Containing some profanity and stark situations which are, rather than gratuitous, essential to its characters and themes, this story deals with the devastation suffered by a child who becomes the caretaker of those supposed to nurture her. Highly Recommended. 2005, Henry Holt & Company, 266pp., $16.95 hc. Ages 14 up.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2005)
Seventeen-year-old high school student Zoe gathers her courage to move out of her alcoholic mother's house. She finds temporary refuge in a rented room on Lorelei Street. Subsisting on tips from her diner job, a desperate act causes Zoe to again reevaluate her situation. Pearson's third-person narration perfectly fits the tone of a girl who keeps others at arm's length. Category: Older Fiction. 2005, Holt, 266pp, 16.95. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Debbie Griffin (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews, (Vol. 18, No. 2))
Zoe needs this room...the room on Lorelei street...the room that she knows will bring her happiness and escape from the painful life she is living. She goes to school and excels at tennis. No one at school knows the full extent of her home life. Her mom is an alcoholic; her father is dead, either from a horrible accident or suicide; her grandmother is overbearing and demanding. Zoe has a waitressing job working to pay the electric bill or other bills that her mother can’t pay because of her drinking. So Zoe wants out. She rents that room that she has been longing for and this is her story of how she deals with the feelings of betraying her mother and grandmother, of how she pays the bills, of how she feels about school and friends, and finally of how she feels about her new friend Opal, who rented the room on Lorelei Street to her. This is an excellent story, one in which the reader will empathize with Zoe and her need for normalcy. I highly recommend this book. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 10 and up. 2005, Holt, 266p., $16.95. Ages 15 to 18.

Jenny Ingram (VOYA, June 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
Faced with an alcoholic mother, a dead father, and trouble in her Texas high school, seventeen-year-old Zoe budgets the paycheck she earns as a waitress and rents a room from an elderly eccentric woman. She is determined to make a successful life for herself, and readers cheer along with Zoe's small triumphs: a winning match on the school tennis team, a passing exam in her worst class, and the attention of a good, ambitious boy. The pitfalls she experiences provide the counterweight to these events: acting up in class, smoking, and selling her body when she cannot make rent. Zoe is a flawed heroine and a realistic depiction of a teenage girl not born into an advantaged life. Despite these drawbacks, she is driven to succeed. Pearson incorporates a good deal of suspense in the story; the reader is never sure that Zoe will make it on her own. The characters are complex and well drawn: An older school counselor is burned out but still well-meaning, Zoe's family waffles in their admittance of her mother's alcoholism, and Zoe struggles between her rational and emotional selves. The portrayal of alcoholism and abuse is realistic but not melodramatic, and the quiet revelation by Zoe's landlady that she was abused as a child is a hopeful moment for Zoe's prospects. Teenage girls will enjoy reading this book, and it might provide good material for classroom discussions. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Henry Holt, 266p., $16.95. Ages 12 to 18.

Kristen Moreland, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, June 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
Pearson's subtle writing style, rich with similes and metaphors, enhances the story and makes it more memorable. Teens will relate to Zoe's fierce need for independence and her strong desire to make something of her life. The characters' reactions are realistic and many readers will probably recognize some aspect of themselves or their family in Zoe's life. Although much of this book is fairly dark, Pearson illustrates the strong message that even the most seemingly useless thing is full of possibility. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Henry Holt, 266p., $16.95. Ages 12 to 18.