Family matters (by Helen Parker)

(Amazon UK link)

I started reading Helen Parker’s books for teenagers because, years ago, she was part of our local writers’ group. I read ‘Hide and secret’ a few years ago and thought it both interesting and well-written. I enjoyed the stand-alone sequel, ‘Island treasure’ too, when I read that a year or so later, although I would have liked more about the characters in ‘Hide and secret’.

So when the third book, ‘Family matters’,  was published, I put it on my wishlist and was given it last Christmas. I just finished reading it. I hadn’t really remembered the characters from ‘Hide and secret’, but realised after a few chapters that some of them were in this book: in particular Ruth, whose early years were spent in Cairo. She is now 14 and goes to a high school in Edinburgh. She still doesn’t feel entirely at home there, but she’s reasonably settled. Most of her local friends are ones who also belong to her church youth group.

One of Ruth’s friends is Lucy, who is excited that her mother has a new boyfriend, Zak. He’s very generous, and she hopes he might be her stepfather. Ruth has other friends with stepfathers, and they all like them very much; some of what Lucy says feels a bit strange, however. Not that he’s behaving inappropriately to Lucy, but she isn’t quite sure how to deal with a new man in the family - and one or two of the things she says don’t quite ring true.

So Ruth has to make some hard decisions: whether to keep confidences or share concerns with people in authority. Her two closest friends aren’t in Edinburgh. Chris - who was the main character in ‘Island treasure’ - lives on a remote island, and Cami is still in Cairo. She often messages them, and there are several brief exchanges given; they didn’t seem entirely authentic to me as ‘gen-Z’ or ‘gen-alpha’ teen messages, but perhaps that was deliberate. Ruth’s upbringing has been somewhat unusual. 

I liked the overall story, which I thought was well told, with a bit of tension (though short-lived) towards the end. I appreciated Ruth’s relationship with her widowed mother, too. Ruth is a likeable, three-dimensional character and I was glad she reappeared as the main protagonist of this story.

I found it more difficult to distinguish between the people Ruth knows, both in her school and her youth group. We don’t actually hear much about the school, other than in a play for which she’s written the script. There’s quite a lot of build-up to this activity, which Ruth and her classmates perform without any direction from any of the school staff. But then when it’s performed, it seems very short - no more than about ten minutes.  

I didn’t particularly like the many ‘rap’ sections of the book - Ruth’s friend Chris likes to rap, and she does her best too - most of her play is written in this style. It’s not something that appeals to me, and I couldn’t see how many of the lines could scan; perhaps they’re not supposed to. I hadn’t realised that rap was still popular, or that it was used by white people - and it’s clear from descriptions and from images on the front of the books that both Ruth and Chris are white. 

It’s a book for younger teens, or perhaps more for older children, since Ruth is only fourteen; perhaps this would be suitable for the 9-13 age group. There’s quite a bit of Christian content, with Bible verses and prayer for guidance and wisdom. I thought it well done, without being preachy, but those with no faith or a different faith might find it too much. 

 

I didn’t like it quite as much as the earlier books - ‘Island treasure’, in particular, is faster paced and has more plot. However, I’m glad I read it, and may reread at some point. I’ll probably do so immediately after rereading the other two, so I can keep more characters in mind. 

Like the others this is a standalone book, but I think it’s still better read after at least ‘Hide and secret’; some of the situations in that are referred to in this book as well as several of the people.

Recommended in a low key way to fluent readers of about eight or nine and upwards who like Christian fiction. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews