Synopses & Reviews
The Rooms Are Filled is the 1983 coming-of-age story of two outcasts brought together by circumstance: nine-year-old Michael Nygaard, a Minnesota farm boy transplanted to suburban Chicago after his father dies, and his proper, young teacher, Julia Parnell, a closet lesbian trying to begin again after a failed attempt to live openly.
Michael doesnt understand the new people around him: the wild girl across the street nurtures their friendship and then undermines it; her alcoholic father rockets between affability and rage; the bullies at school taunt him; and his 4th grade teacher, Miss Parnell—he adores her but shes living a false life.
When Julias secret is exposed, she faces a choice: accept herself or deny her true nature. Michael must also choose whether to simply endure or fight back. Coming of age will take bravery from these two lost souls. If they cannot find the strength to change, neither will have the life they deserve and desire.
Review
“Michael, a boy rejected by his schoolmates, and Julia, a schoolteacher confused about her sexual identity, form a lovely, sympathetic bond in Jessica Null Vealitzeks fine first novel.
The Rooms Are Filled is the story of their struggle to survive in a suburban world full of prejudice and hostility, set against the backdrop of a natural world, which we, like Michael, have lost but still can learn from. Vealitzek writes from the heart. I read this tale of anguish, and of triumph, from cover to cover without stopping. You will too.”
—Stephen Wetta, author of If Jacks in Love
“The Rooms Are Filled is a tender novel about the beauty and sadness of those simply learning to live out loud. An ode to truth, the departed who are never truly gone, and the resilient human heart.”
—Susan Henderson, author of Up from the Blue
“As you read about the seemingly quiet, Midwestern lives of the people of The Rooms Are Filled, you will suddenly realize that you desperately want them to get everything theyre hoping for.”
—John Warner, Chicago Tribune columnist and author of The Funny Man
Review
"As Berger's novel moves back and forth from Vilna to Brooklyn, the focus is on Rosha and Mira as well as on Charlie's sister Jeanette. All three attempt to make sense of a life that often makes no sense at all. VERDICT: In this engaging debut, a semifinalist for Amazon's annual Breakthrough Novel Award, readers gain three different views of the effects of World War II on ordinary people." --Library Journal
Synopsis
The Rooms Are Filled is the moving, 1983 coming-of-age story of two outcasts brought together by circumstance: a Minnesota farm boy transplanted to suburban Chicago after his father dies, and his teacher, a closeted young woman starting over after a failed attempt to live openly. Readers will root for these two as they navigate their new lives, as they attempt to change to become who they are.
About the Author
Jessica Vealitzek was born and raised near Chicago, where she still lives with her husband and two children. A Midwesterner through and through, she is uncomfortable making a big fuss and believes in the power of the quiet stories of everyday people. She can be found online at True STORIES.