Common Sense Media Review
By Andrea Beach
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Risk of disease is fresh twist in romance/medical tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
High school senior Rose Levenson's mother has Huntington's disease, and Rose knows there's a 50/50 chance she's inherited the genetic mutation that can cause it. As she watches illness steadily eat away at the person who once was her mom, she feels like she's watching her own future in a crystal ball. With those odds hanging over her, Rose feels like she can't make any plans for her future, such as where to go to college or whether to pursue ballet, unless she knows whether she'll get Huntington's herself one day. So against conventional wisdom and her parents, Rose decides that as soon as she turns 18 in a few months, she'll take the blood test that will tell her if she carries the mutation. Enter Caleb, the handsome, smart guy whose own family battles sickle-cell anemia. What do the RULES OF 50/50 CHANCES say about falling in love?
Is It Any Good?
Debut-novelist Kate McGovern adds an extra twist to the now-standard, terminal-illness twist on this mixed romance and coming-of-age story: This time it's the mom who's ill. Teens will relate to Rose's struggles to make decisions about her future, and there's food for thought about issues of race, coping with a loved one's illness, love, and uncertainty. But as even love-interest Caleb says, Rose is exhausting. It's occasionally frustrating and tiresome watching her constant hand-wringing, which keeps her from being an entirely likable narrator.
The romance itself is fresh and feels realistic, and the illnesses are nicely handled: serious and refreshingly honest without being overwrought. It may not be the next Fault in Our Stars, but teens who like their romance with plenty of medical drama on the side will enjoy following Rose as she learns to enjoy what life has to offer.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why medical issues, especially terminal illnesses, are often a big part of the books and movies we love. What do medical issues add to, or take away from, the story? What would Rose be like if her mother didn't have Huntington's disease?
How much did you know about genetic disorders before reading Rules for 50/50 Chances? Did anything about them, or about the characters coping with them, surprise you?
How realistic is Rose's decision? What do you think will happen to her and Caleb at the end of the summer? What about five or 10 years from now?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Coming of Age
- Topics : Arts , Friendship , School ( High School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication date : November 24, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
- Number of pages : 352
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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