Young Adult Novel Explores Fractured Families, Suicide and Coming of Age

In the sequel to the award-winning Billy, Laura Roybal's Dear Bobby explores how the death of a friend sets a troubled boy's life onto a new path

PECOS, N.M. (MMD Newswire) January 21, 2009 -- Dear Bobby by Laura Roybal chronicles how two boys deal very differently with the stresses and problems of split-up and recombined families.

Roybal’s first novel, Billy, was awarded a place on the American Library Association's List of Books for Reluctant Readers, was nominated for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and won the Border Region Library Association's Southwest Book Award. Now, in Dear Bobby, she continues her story. After being kidnapped by his biological father, Billy Campbell returns to his adoptive family. But when a good friend commits suicide, Billy soon goes back to his father’s small New Mexican town to attend the funeral, where having both parents in the same place at the same time proves difficult. Billy is shocked by the changes in his father’s life, and as he grapples with the reasons for his friend’s suicide, he also learns how life still must go on.

In Dear Bobby, Roybal aims to show how the various demands and expectations of having multiple families can cause anyone to lose sight of what is really important in life.  While one boy kills himself, the other identifies and deals with the problem and is able to process it and continue to grow. By writing this sequel, Roybal was able to use familiar characters and places to highlight new themes and ideas, such as dealing with loss, accepting change and making decisions based on logic rather than on emotion.

For more information or to request a free review copy, members of the press can contact the author at manzanarescreeklodge@wildblue.net. Dear Bobby is available for sale online at Amazon.com, BookSurge.com and through additional wholesale and retail channels worldwide.

About the Author
Laura Roybal holds a bachelor’s degree in English and is currently working on her master’s degree in theology. Her first published novel, Billy, was on the American Library Association's List of Books for Reluctant Readers. It was also nominated for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and won the Border Region Library Association's Southwest Book award in 1994.

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