Review of Standing on Neptune by Valerie Sherrard

On an ordinary Monday morning, Brooke realizes that her period is five days late. This could be simply a late period. Or it could be something life-changing, for both her and her boyfriend Ryan.

In the days that follow, she holds this secret close. She tells only Ryan, and his reaction is not what she had hoped for. She goes to school and spends time with her family and friends, immerses herself in a homework assignment on the planet Neptune, and carries on as if nothing has changed in her world.

But inside, she knows that in spite of the uncertainty, everything has changed. She decides that by Saturday she will take a test and find out for sure. When Saturday arrives, she is surprised to discover that she is ready to know. And that she has already learned more than she ever could have imagined about herself, the people in her life … and even about Neptune. 

In Standing on Neptune, a penetrating novel in verse, as Brooke carefully navigates her feelings, author Valerie Sherrard invites us to think about how one never knows what burdens or secrets lay beneath the surface of the people we encounter every day. By also including Ryan’s voice in three separate chapters, Sherrard enables readers to see how differently the two teens see their relationship and this situation that they may be in.

She beautifully, succinctly captures Brooke’s sense of loneliness and isolation, her uncertainty and fear, and both her desire to know and her dread of knowing. Her ultimate realization that there are people in her life that she could have turned to, and that she will be able to count on if she needs to, feels profound and heartfelt. And her recognition that her solitary journey has given her a clarity that she may not otherwise have gained is equally significant.

This is an insightful, thought-provoking and perceptive novel, a brief but impactful exploration of the complexities of the human heart.  

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