Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: White Rabbit
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 2/22/1978
WEBSITE: http://calebroehrig.com/
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born February 22, 1978, in Ann Arbor, MI.
EDUCATION:Michigan State University, B.A., 2000.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, actor, and producer. Has worked as associate producer on television series, including Modern Marvels and Food Paradise.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Caleb Roehrig is an author of mystery novels for young adults, often with gay protagonists. Of his first novel, Last Seen Leaving, he told a Gay YA online interviewer: “When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, this is the book I wish I could’ve read, because there was no such thing as gay interest YA back then.” He continued: “When I was growing up, gay characters were always tragic figures, or like, offensive stereotypes played for comic relief.” Now many young adult books feature fully realized gay characters, and “it was important to me to contribute to that,” he said.
Last Seen Leaving
Roehrig’s debut follows fifteen-year-old Flynn Doherty as he tries to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, January. Flynn and January had gone to high school together in Ann Arbor, Michigan (Roehrig’s hometown), until her politician stepfather decided to send her to a private school. When she vanishes, just a few days after she and Flynn ended their relationship, the police initially think she simply ran away. Flynn, who still cares for her as a friend, suspects there is more to the story. He finds she had been keeping secrets from him; when he talks to her classmates at the private school, they portray a girl very different from the one he knew. He had kept secrets from her as well, though, including his growing realization that he’s gay. He has to come to terms with this and come out to the people in his life as he investigates January’s disappearance.
Some critics found Last Seen Leaving engaging. It offers “a compelling mystery and characters with fully developed strengths and flaws,” remarked a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who called the novel “an important addition” to the realm of gay-interest fiction for young adults. Similar praise came from School Library Journal contributor Genevieve Feldman. “The characters are believable, the mystery is interesting, and the action is often fast-paced,” she wrote. Flynn’s efforts to accept his sexuality combine with his detective work to make the novel “a fun mystery with a credible emotional pull,” Feldman concluded.
White Rabbit
White Rabbit features another gay teen trying to solve a mystery, this time set in Vermont. Sixteen-year-old Rufus Holt, depressed because his boyfriend Sebastian has broken up with him, is trying to cheer himself up at a Fourth of July party. When Sebastian arrives at the party, it does not exactly make Rufus feel better. Then Rufus gets a phone call from his half-sister, April, who is in a panic. They are not particularly close, but she needs his help. Sebastian drives Rufus to an isolated cabin near Burlington, where they find April beside the corpse of her boyfriend Fox, who has been stabbed to death. She is covered in blood and holding a knife, but she says she did not kill Fox; she had lost consciousness and cannot remember what happened. Rufus and Sebastian also notice several white pills at the scene, and these turn out to be a designer drug called White Rabbit, which may cause users to behave violently. Fox had been dealing this drug, and April appears to be under its influence. Rufus and Sebastian realize they must work together to determine who killed Fox. Amid the tale of their sleuthing, Roehrig intersperses flashbacks to their relationship and breakup.
“Rufus faces a lot of adversity,” Roehrig told an interviewer at the Fierce Reads website. “He’s an outcast, he’s poor, and he has a history of emotional and behavioral problems that, at the outset of White Rabbit, he’s only recently gotten under control.” The character, however, “faces up to these challenges and refuses to let anyone else’s judgments of him based on these aspects of his life determine how he feels about himself,” Roehrig said.
Several reviewers found White Rabbit another winning effort from Roehrig. He “masterfully employs aspects of the mystery and thriller genres to create a gripping drama that also encompasses the realities of being a teen,” related Sean Rapacki in Voice of Youth Advocates. As it explores family and relationship issues amid the detective work, Rob Bittner noted in Booklist, “Roehrig’s narrative is deliciously sensational on the surface but sensitive and heartfelt at its core.” A Publishers Weekly contributor observed that in the author’s “thrilling sophomore outing,” he “nails the angst of spending time with an ex that you can’t help but love” in addition to the challenges of coming out. James Lindorf, writing online at Red Carpet Crash, remarked: “It is hard to say which journey of [Rufus’s] I prefer more, his quest for love or his hunt for justice.” Roehrig, he continued, “did a great job intertwining the two elements.” In School Library Journal, Erik Knapp observed: “Roehrig obviously knows how to structure a mystery,” while he depicts Rufus and Sebastian’s relationship “intelligently and realistically.” White Rabbit offers “excellent characters and plotting” along with “honest and compassionate storytelling,” Knapp added.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2018, Rob Bittner, review of White Rabbit, p. 73.
Publishers Weekly, December 2, 2016, review of Last Seen Leaving, p. 115; February 12, 2018, review of White Rabbit, p. 79.
School Library Journal, October, 2016. Genevieve Feldman, review of Last Seen Leaving, p. 115; March, 2018. Erik Knapp, review of White Rabbit, p. 122.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2018, Sean Rapacki, review of White Rabbit, p. 66.
ONLINE
Caleb Roehrig website, http://calebroehrig.com (June 24, 2018).
Fierce Reads, http://www.fiercereads.com/ (April 4, 2018), interview with Caleb Roehrig.
Gay YA, http://www.gayya.org/ (June 27, 2016), interview with Caleb Roehrig.
Internet Movie Database, https://www.imdb.com/ (June 24, 2018), brief biography.
Red Carpet Crash, http://redcarpetcrash.com/ (May 2, 2018), James Lindorf, interview with Caleb Roehrig.
About
Caleb Roehrig is a writer and television producer originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Having also lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Helsinki, Finland, he has a chronic case of wanderlust, and can recommend the best sights to see on a shoestring budget in over thirty countries. A former actor, Roehrig has experience on both sides of the camera, with a résumé that includes appearances on film and TV—as well as seven years in the stranger-than-fiction salt mines of reality television. In the name of earning a paycheck, he has: hung around a frozen cornfield in his underwear, partied with an actual rock-star, chatted with a scandal-plagued politician, and been menaced by a disgruntled ostrich.
Quoted in Sidelights: “Rufus faces a lot of adversity,” Roehrig told an interviewer at the Teen Fierce Reads website. “He’s an outcast, he’s poor, and he has a history of emotional and behavioral problems that, at the outset of White Rabbit, he’s only recently gotten under control.” The character, however, “faces up to these challenges and refuses to let anyone else’s judgments of him based on these aspects of his life determine how he feels about himself,”
APRIL 4, 2018 | 10:00 AM
An Interview with Caleb Roehrig, Author of White Rabbit
By Team Fierce Reads
White Rabbit is almost here! 🎉To celebrate the upcoming release of this thrilling new novel from one of our favorite mystery writers, we’ve asked Caleb Roehrig to answer some questions about his latest book.
What makes Rufus Fierce?
Rufus faces a lot of adversity: He’s an outcast, he’s poor, and he has a history of emotional and behavioral problems that, at the outset of White Rabbit, he’s only recently gotten under control. What makes Rufus fierce, in my opinion, is the way he faces up to these challenges and refuses to let anyone else’s judgments of him based on these aspects of his life determine how he feels about himself. Buffy the Vampire Slayer once said, “The hardest thing in this world is to live in it,” and I believe what makes any of us fierce is staying true to ourselves while we’re here.
If you'd met Rufus when you were a teen, would you have been friends?
This is a difficult question to answer! Teenage me would probably have been intimidated by Rufus’s intensity (and might just as easily also have had a crush on him), which would have meant I’d have been really shy around him. However, Rufus’s best friends in White Rabbit were very much inspired by the kind of people I spent all my time with in high school, and as that means he would be part of the same sphere of people I gravitated to as a teen, we likely would have been friends!
What's one fun fact most people don't know about you?
I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do! In middle school I started to figure out how cool fight scenes were in the movies, and I had this fantasy of becoming some kind of amazing action movie hero, kicking people in the face and doing Crouching Tiger–style stunts all up and down the walls. It didn’t quite work out that way, and in most arenas I am definitely still more of a lover than a fighter, but I committed to the discipline. I passed the test for my first degree black belt in the eighth grade and was actually already starting to work towards my second degree in the ninth grade… but then I discovered theater (or, rather, the thea-tah finally discovered me), and my life changed direction overnight.
What's your favorite part of being an author?
There are a lot of perks to being an author. For example, I wear my pajamas to work, I can take as many breaks as I want, and I can even call in sick for, like, weeks at a time without getting into trouble! Unless I have a deadline or five, in which case I am in a constant state of panic. But, all jokes aside, the best part about being an author is seeing your imagination take on actual shape and dimension when you put your ideas onto the page. For a writer, nothing is quite as special as reaching those two perfect words—the end—and knowing that someone, somewhere, is also going to experience the story that’s been living inside you. It’s a kind of magic.
Which 3 fictional characters would you choose for your Scooby Gang and why?
First and foremost, I would pick Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not only does she have super powers and a fantastically dry wit (my favorite kind), but she has lots of experience leading a Scooby Gang of her own. My second pick would be Dana Scully from The X-Files because having an adult around is never a bad idea—particularly one with an analytical mind and sharp investigative skills, as well as experience with firearms and martial arts. Last but not least, I would pick “A” from Pretty Little Liars. This might seem a controversial choice, but consider! “A” knows literally everybody’s dirty secrets and they know how to manipulate people into doing what they want AND they have no qualms of conscience about any of it. Strength, smarts, and deviousness—what more could you ask for in a support crew?
White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig
Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian—the guy who stomped his heart out like a spent cigarette. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to "talk." Things couldn’t get worse, right?
Then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. He and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney.
April swears she didn’t kill Fox. Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth, but April has something he needs. Her price is his help. Now, with no one to trust but the boy he wants to hate yet can’t stop loving, Rufus has one night to clear his sister’s name... or die trying.
Start reading now.
Quoted in Sidelights: “It is hard to say which journey of [Rufus’s] I prefer more, his quest for love or his hunt for justice.” Roehrig, he continued, “did a great job intertwining the two elements.”
C2E2 Author Interview: ‘Caleb Roehrig’ Talks New Novel White Rabbit
RedCarpetCrash May 2, 2018
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Post by James Lindorf
Caleb Roehrig, the author of the 2016 hit, Last Seen Leaving, has returned with his second novel. White Rabbit is a compelling YA murder mystery and was released on April 24th by Feiwel & Friends a division of Macmillan. 16-year-old Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. First, his ex-boyfriend Sebastian, his first love and his first heartbreak, returns unexpectedly saying they need to “talk.” Then, as if things couldn’t get worse, Rufus receives a call from his half-sister April begging for help. Forced to partner up with Sebastian, Rufus finds April unconscious, soaked in blood, and still clutching a knife beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney. April swears she didn’t hurt Fox but her memory is hazy, possibly due to the mound of drugs Rufus and Sebastian found in the cabin. Rufus knows her too well to believe he is getting the whole truth, but she has something he needs. Rufus has one night to clear her and claim his prize with no one he can trust but the boy he wants to hate but can’t stop loving. By dawn, the true killer will be behind bars or Rufus will have died trying.
It was great to get a novel from the point of view of a young gay character who has so many real-world experiences. Rufus gets bullied, he has close friends, he has crushed on straight, bi and gay people all in the pursuit of what works best for him and what makes him happy. It is hard to say which journey of his I prefer more, his quest for love or his hunt for justice. OK, it is the hunt for justice, that is more my style, but Caleb did a great job intertwining the two elements. The only thing better than the mystery is Caleb’s use of metaphors, he is indeed great at painting an image or describing ideas in his own way such as “the three of us were as tense and silent as a German horror film.”
I think my biggest complaint is that with Caleb’s large cast of characters they tend to suffer from being too similar. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of which person said what because they don’t have a distinctive voice. It’s great to have a character or two love a comic book, but to have four or five of them being able to quote it endlessly is a bit too much. Rufus’ world is populated with many wealthy, self-important jerks that I struggle to keep straight a few days after finishing, but Rufus and Sebastian are well-rounded and memorable.
In addition, Caleb or an editor was a bit too in love with the thesaurus because some of the word choices were odd. None of the words were misused or couldn’t be understood in context, but there were some very nontraditional choices. Overall, White Rabbit is an excellent choice for young mystery fans with plenty of twists and turns, and I think teenagers will gravitate to Rufus and his romantic plight.
Quoted in Sidelights: “When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, this is the book I wish I could’ve read, because there was no such thing as gay interest YA back then.”
“When I was growing up, gay characters were always tragic figures, or like, offensive stereotypes played for comic relief.” “it was important to me to contribute to that,”
Interview: Caleb Roehrig author of Last Seen Leaving
One of the amazing authors I got to interview at BEA was Caleb Roehrig! Caleb and I were both slightly food-deprived and wholly overwhelmed by the massiveness that was BEA, so some of our questions and answers were a little off the wall (frex: after the interview, I learned some fun facts about the population living around Lake Superior). But we also discussed new narratives in LGBTQIA+ YA, how his debut book Last Seen Leaving fits into the mix, and our favorite LGBTQIA+ YA books. So I’m SUPER psyched to be able to share this interview!
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(Also apparently I cannot pronounce EITHER Caleb or Roehrig but *shrug emoji*)
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Vee: I am here with Caleb Roehrig, author of Last Seen Leaving, which comes out in October of this year. So, yeah, to start off could you just tell us a little bit about this book?
Caleb: Sure! Okay, so it’s a novel about a teenage boy whose girlfriend disappears, and this is at about the same time that he’s starting to come to terms with the fact that he’s gay, and so the book is a little bit about his self discovery and a little bit about the secrets she kept from him and why, and it’s about the secrets that they kept from each other. And how those secrets impacted those lives and sort of the powers of secrets and whether it does more damage to keep a secret than it does when you reveal a secret.
Vee: Huh!
Caleb: Something else that I really wanted to do with this book is that I really wanted to play with perspective. The girlfriend, January, is missing when the book begins, and you never seem to meet her, you meet her through flashbacks and in stories told by other people, so every story you hear about her is filtered through somebody else’s perspective. And so it’s sort of up to the reader to decide whether or not they believe or doubt the purity of her motivations and doing the things she did and keeping the secrets she kept and what lead up to what ultimately happened to her in the story.
Vee: Yeah! That sounds really interesting.
Caleb: [laughs] my long, convoluted-
Vee: No, that’s fantastic! So when I was reading about this book I was like, that’s like a plot I’ve never seen before in, particularly in LGBT YA, but like all YA in general too-
last seen leavingCaleb: That is exactly, this is– when I was fifteen or sixteen years old, this is the book I wish I could’ve read, because there was no such thing as gay interest YA back then, there was barely YA– but y’know and I thought, I was like a mystery/suspense junkie and I just wanted to read a book where somebody like me was the hero, you know what I mean? Where that could be like a thing, and I feel like– it’s been so baffling to see how any books now address LGBT, like the greater spectrum of queer characters, like it’s so cool, and it’s so important! So it was important to me to contribute to that and some of it was, I don’t know, when I was writing it I worried that maybe no one would be interested in it because it wasn’t just a coming out story or it wasn’t just, yanno, and I, my experience had been, when I was growing up, gay characters were always tragic figures, or like, offensive stereotypes played for comic relief, so it was kind of like… I don’t know! but the reception’s been incredible. The way that people’ve have responded to it has been really incredible.
Vee: Yay! That’s so great. What (if you can do this without spoiling) is your favorite scene in the book?
Caleb: Someone asked me about this and I struggled through answering it without giving any spoilers, but I think I can do it. So, there is a scene about ¾ of the way through the book where Flynn, the protag is sort of hot on his girlfriend’s tail and well, I guess I should say he’s still trying to figure out what happened to her and he’s still trying to find a number of threads and he goes to her school, she attended a private school, he goes to her school and he meets some of the girls that went to school with her. He knows that she didn’t like it there but he knows very little about her experience and in talking with these girls they present a completely different version of who January was than the girl that he knew. And it was one of those scenes where I actually learned things about the character when I was writing the perspective of these people who didn’t like her. And it was sort of looking at, and that’s the thing that’s so rewarding to me as a writer is when I discover there’s something I didn’t know about my own character, which sounds like a weird way to put it.
Vee: No, yeah, I can understand that!
Caleb: But it’s because it’s like these are my characters and you think you know them but at the same time it’s like… I had to reframe the narrative about her in a way I hadn’t really thought about prior to setting the scene up so I really enjoyed writing that scene because I really enjoyed learning something about the character and I learned something about the process so that’s really cool.
Vee: Yeah, that’s really cool! You had a signing today, was that your first signing?
Caleb: Yeah, that was my first official signing. I was a guest on the Fierce Reads tour last week, just in a suburb outside Chicago. So I flew here last week and then I flew back again this week. And they raffled off twenty copies of my book so it was my first signing experience. And last night, there was a book blogger party so I signed some copies there as well but this was my first sit-down signing.
Vee: How did that go?
Caleb: It went really well. Sometimes I feel really put on the spot about how sometimes people ask me questions about the book or about me and I don’t know why but I can talk about all the stupid stuff that I’ve done in my life. I have a story about every stupid thing I’ve ever done but like talking about something like- I just get tongue-tied. My very first… on the fierce reads thing, there, I was so nervous. Like throughout the whole thing, I was so nervous! And finally, I relaxed by the end of it but it was too late, I had all this adrenaline in my system and I couldn’t sit still. And then I’m signing, and I was telling people, you know those movies where the guy gets his arm chopped off and then he has to get a replacement from a serial killer’s so it’s a murder arm and it has a mind of its own, that’s what it was like. I was trying to sign and my arm was doing all this stuff and I was like ‘I’m not making it do that!” So my signature was a giant scrawl, like really sideways.
Vee: [laughs] That’s fantastic. I’ve asked a few authors that question and you had the best answer.
Caleb: Yes, that’s good!
Vee: Special prize *laughs*. Okay my last question is do you have top favourite LGBT+ YA books?
Caleb: Oh my gosh.
Vee: Or like recently?
Caleb: I have a terrible time picking favourites, I just read I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN and I loved that one. So many feelings omg. That was a tremendous book, I had a book hangover for a week after that one.
Vee: Yeah, I was like that too!
Caleb: I love that. I loved WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON. And I really loved that book because it was the first time I had really seen a gay character portrayed with depression, someone who was fighting a totally different battle. Not just coming out, not just adjusting– and it was really interesting, and really sensitive. So I really responded to that.
far from youAnd I just read Tess Sharpe’s FAR FROM YOU and oh my gosh! I just read that in March and I loved it. And again, it’s one of those things that I recommend to everybody because again it was a thriller that touches upon themes that are important to the greater queer community, and bisexual representation, which you don’t see a lot.
Vee: Yeah, that was a book that made me feel okay as IDing as bi. And I just came out to my mom (C: congrats! V: it was a time) as bisexual, and was telling her like “there’s this book that really helped me” and now she’s reading it.
Caleb: Yeah, the thing is that the environment in which young people are coming of age and coming out has changed so much now which is a great thing but it’s still so intimidating. And I think people don’t realize that. So my husband and I have been together for almost 11 years now and have been married since 2011, coming up on our 5 year anniversary, and sometimes it’s intimidating. Meeting someone new, and it’s a thing you have to bring up, not that you have to but it’s instead making a conscious effort to not bring it up.
Vee: Yeah, I get that. You never quite know-
Caleb: Yeah you don’t know. Most people are okay but you never quite know who you’re talking to. Or where they’re coming from.
Vee: That’s really interesting.
Caleb: My husband is a linguist. We’ve been living in Finland for the past four years because he’s been working with a small community of, historically, they spoke a dialect of South Estonian, but they live entirely within the borders of Latvia, east in the countryside. It’s small villages, that are often very religious. And for him, it was always an issue of whether he could [tell them] or if he would be safe or if this would be an environment where he could find himself shut out of the environment that he needs to do his research. So it’s a tricky thing. So the more stuff that’s out there, I say, yes.
Vee: It’s interesting because WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON was one of the first queer YA that I’ve ever read and that was still during that time in the beginning, when my sister and I started GayYA and we still identified as straight, like “we are the straight allies coming to help these gay people!” which turned out great. Like whoops. I should re-read that, because at that time I was like “man, all these gays are so angsty” but now I feel like I could appreciate what’s going on in the book. So yeah, I’d like to re-read that.
Caleb: Yeah, it was one of the first books that addressed it, that was like a gay YA novel.
Vee: So that’s all my questions, thanks so much for the interview!
Caleb: thank you! It was so nice to meet you.
—
Last Seen Leaving comes out this October. I was lucky enough to get an ARC an DEFINITELY recommend it! Add it to your TBR on Goodreads, or Pre-Order it!
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Caleb Roehrig Poster
Caleb Roehrig
Biography
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Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Trivia (1) | Personal Quotes (1)
Overview (3)
Born February 22, 1978 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Birth Name Michael Caleb Roehrig
Height 6' (1.83 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Michael Caleb Roehrig was born on February 22, 1978 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When his parents purchased a camcorder Caleb began making many short films with his brother. In these films, named "Michael's Movie Minutes," his brother Dan would man the camera shakily and Caleb would portray virtually every character. These early classics included Macbeth Bites The Big One, Cinematic Murder a.k.a. Drown In Front, and Who Shot The Frugal Gourmet? By high school Caleb was in full theater mode, landing big parts left and right. He played Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Ann Arbor Huron High School's production of Guys And Dolls, and he also won the part of Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop Of Horrors, as well as numerous other roles. After receiving his diploma in 1996, Caleb studied theatre at Michigan State University where he directed his first original play, Curses!, a mystery-comedy. He received his B.A. in 2000 and two years later moved to Los Angeles to seek his proverbial fortune. His first film, Scarecrow Gone Wild (2004), is set for video release March 6. Currently (February 2004) he is working on his first novel.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Dan Roehrig
Trivia (1)
Father Charles has been a member of the bluegrass band the RFD Boys since 1969.
Personal Quotes (1)
Los Angeles is a loveless suck-town with no soul.
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Filmography
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2010 Food Paradise (TV Series) (field associate producer - 4 episodes)
- Pie Paradise (2010) ... (field associate producer)
- Food Truck Paradise (2010) ... (field associate producer)
- Pasta Paradise (2010) ... (field associate producer)
- Bacon Paradise (2010) ... (field associate producer)
2008 Modern Marvels (TV Series documentary) (associate producer - 2 episodes)
- Mad Electricity (2008) ... (associate producer)
- Carbon (2008) ... (associate producer)
Hide HideActor (1 credit)
2004 Scarecrow Gone Wild (Video)
Sam
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2005 Open Bar (TV Series) (logger)
Quoted in Sidelights: “masterfully employs aspects of the mystery and thriller genres to create a gripping drama that also encompasses the realities of being a teen,”
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Print Marked Items
Roehrig, Caleb. White Rabbit
Sean Rapacki
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.1 (Apr. 2018): p66.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
5Q * 5P * S * R
Roehrig, Caleb. White Rabbit. Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, April 2018. 336p. $17.99. 978-1-250-08565-8.
Rufus is an unpopular high school student just trying to enjoy a party when he suddenly gets hit by two
unpleasant surprises: a worrying call from his usually distant half-sister, April, and an in-person visit from
Sebastian, the ex-boyfriend who broke his heart months ago. Sebastian can tell Rufus is concerned about
April and offers to drive him to check on her. They find an unconscious April covered in blood, holding a
knife, and lying next to her thoroughly stabbed, dead boyfriend. Scattered around are also numerous White
Rabbit pills, a dangerous designer drug that local police have been cracking down on hard because it
frequently causes violent behavior in users. They wake an extremely confused April who claims she does
not know how she ended up like this, and she begs Rufus to find out the identity of the real killer. What
follows is a classic, gritty noir murder mystery, with Rufus and Sebastian attempting to seek out the truth
without getting killed or arrested before the night ends.
As with his debut novel, Last Seen Leaving (Macmillan, 2016), Roehrig masterfully employs aspects of the
mystery and thriller genres to create a gripping drama that also encompasses the realities of being a teen,
including strained family dynamics and the courage required to come out. Readers will find this novel
difficult, if not impossible, to put down, and while they may not guess the culprit before the end, they are
likely to figure out why Sebastian has sought out Rufus this night long before Rufus does. --Sean Rapacki.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Rapacki, Sean. "Roehrig, Caleb. White Rabbit." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2018, p. 66. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536746176/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=38534e47. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536746176
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Quoted in Sidelights: “Roehrig’s narrative is deliciously sensational on the surface but sensitive and heartfelt at its core.”
White Rabbit
Rob Bittner
Booklist.
114.14 (Mar. 15, 2018): p73.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
White Rabbit.
By Caleb Roehrig.
Apr. 2018. 336p. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99 (9781250085658). Gr. 9-12.
Rufus Holt's life has been turned upside down. After his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian, shows up at a party saying
that he just wants to talk, Rufus suddenly gets a phone call from April--his sister from a less-than-fatherly
stepfather--asking for help. When he and Sebastian show up to help April, they find her in a lot more
trouble than they expected: sitting on the kitchen floor of a remote cabin, covered in blood, and holding the
dead body of her boyfriend, Fox. Though she swears she didn't kill him, something about the whole
situation doesn't feel right. Roehrig, author of Last Seen Leaving (2016), deftly weaves together thrills,
intrigue, and fast-paced action in this delectable murder mystery. The novel is unapologetically queer,
allowing Rufus and Sebastian to explore their complicated relationship, even against the backdrop of the
intensely emotional and melodramatic family dynamics of Rufus, his sister, his stepbrother, and his (sort of)
father. Roehrig's narrative is deliciously sensational on the surface but sensitive and heartfelt at its core.--
Rob Bittner
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Bittner, Rob. "White Rabbit." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2018, p. 73. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A533094604/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f14f59b9.
Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A533094604
6/4/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Quoted in Sidelights: “thrilling sophomore outing,” “nails the angst of
spending time with an ex that you can’t help but love”
White Rabbit
Publishers Weekly.
265.7 (Feb. 12, 2018): p79.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
White Rabbit
Caleb Roehrig. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99
(336p) ISBN 978-1-250-08565-8
In this thrilling sophomore outing from Roehrig (Last Seen Leaving), 16-year-old Rufus Holt sets out with
his ex, Sebastian, after getting a phone call from his half-sister April, who is at a party, begging for help.
When they arrive at the cabin on the outskirts of Burlington, Vt., they find April stoned out of her mind
with a knife in her hand and her drug-dealing boyfriend stabbed to death. She doesn't remember the last few
hours, but she's willing to pay Rufus $2,000 to find out what really happened, money Rufus desperately
needs. Rufus and Sebastian race to untangle a web of lies spun by a clique of rich kids while trying to stay
ahead of the killer. Roehrig's metaphors are inspired ("the three of us were as tense and silent as a German
horror film"), and his characters and family dynamics are heartbreakingly real. He nails the angst of
spending time with an ex that you can't help but love, as well as the heartache and confusion of coming out.
Ages 12-up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"White Rabbit." Publishers Weekly, 12 Feb. 2018, p. 79. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528615569/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6357000e.
Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A528615569
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Quoted in Sidelights: “a compelling mystery and characters with fully developed strengths and flaws,” “an important addition”
Last Seen Leaving
Publishers Weekly.
263.49 (Dec. 2, 2016): p115+.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Last Seen Leaving
Caleb Roehrig. Feiwel and Friends,
$17.99 ISBN 978-1-250-08563-4
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Fifteen-year-old Flynn Doherty's competing desires to uncover the secrets behind his ex-girlfriend's
disappearance and keep his own secrets hidden propel debut author Roehrig's powerful thriller. Flynn and
January were happy enough when they both went to the same high school in Ann Arbor, Mich. Then
January's mother married a wealthy state senator and whisked January away to a nearby private school. The
couple drifted apart, and Flynn's reluctance to have sex drove a final wedge between them, leading January
to break up with him just days before she vanished. Flynn's realistic--and desperate--attempts to keep his
budding sexuality under wraps (he's gay) infuse an already tense plot with the added stress of coming out.
The police initially think that January is a runaway, but Flynn refuses to believe that she would simply
disappear, instincts that prove correct as the evidence points to something more violent. A compelling
mystery and characters with fully developed strengths and flaws make Roehrig's novel an important
addition in the world of queer young adult fiction. Ages 13-up.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Last Seen Leaving." Publishers Weekly, 2 Dec. 2016, p. 115+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A475224752/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6b188a49.
Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475224752
6/4/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Quoted in Sidelights: “Roehrig obviously knows how to structure a mystery,” while he depicts Rufus and Sebastian’s relationship “intelligently and realistically.” White Rabbit offers “excellent characters and plotting” along with “honest and compassionate storytelling,”
ROEHRIG, Caleb. White Rabbit
Erik Knapp
School Library Journal.
64.3 (Mar. 2018): p122.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
ROEHRIG, Caleb. White Rabbit. 336p. Feiwel & Friends. Apr. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781250085658.
Gr 9 Up--Rufus Holt is having a rough July 4th. First, the love of his young life, Sebastian, shows up out of
nowhere, just five weeks after crushing Rufus's heart in a most painful and spectacular way. Then, his halfsister
April calls, disoriented and desperate for his help. And just to ice the cake a little further, his mom
tells him they're short $8,000 and they may lose the rest of what little they have. With no other option,
Rufus allows Sebastian to drive him to his sister. When they find her, she is covered in blood, holding a
knife, next to the dead body of her boyfriend. She doesn't remember much, but enough to know she didn't
do it, and she is willing to pay Rufus to find out who did. Rufus and Sebastian have one night to uncover
who really killed Fox Whitney. This excellent mystery has strong and believable characters. The relatively
small cast and tight time frame lend themselves to extra focus and depth in each character's development.
Roehrig obviously knows how to structure a mystery; it rolls out nicely, with each piece of the puzzle
discovered at the appropriate time. Brief flashbacks of Rufus and Sebastian's story help give context to and
propel current action that unfolds in a well-timed manner. Their relationship is the core of this tale, and it's
portrayed intelligently and realistically with appropriate depth and compassion. VERDICT Excellent
characters and plotting, as well as honest and compassionate storytelling make this a strong choice for any
YA collection.--Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Knapp, Erik. "ROEHRIG, Caleb. White Rabbit." School Library Journal, Mar. 2018, p. 122. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529863632/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bdaf282b. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529863632
6/4/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Quoted in Sidelights: “The characters are believable, the mystery is interesting, and the action is often fast-paced,” “a fun mystery with a credible emotional pull,”
Roehrig, Caleb. Last Seen Leaving
Genevieve Feldman
School Library Journal.
62.10 (Oct. 2016): p115.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
ROEHRIG, Caleb. Last Seen Leaving. 336p. ebook available. Feiwel & Friends. Oct. 2016. Tr $17.99.
ISBN 9781250085634.
Gr 9 Up--This thriller follows Flynn as he tries to solve the mystery of his missing girlfriend, January. The
more he discovers, the more confused he is as he uncovers the secrets she has been keeping from him.
January had been distant ever since her mother remarried and moved her into her politician stepdad's fancy
house and switched her to private school. Though the couple tried to stay together through the changes,
Flynn's own secret was a source of strife, and January broke up with him after a fight right before her
disappearance. That she's no longer his girlfriend doesn't stop Flynn from caring about her, and he doesn't
give up looking for answers. His search for January leads to his own revelation as he is forced by
circumstances to come out to his parents and friends. Learning the truth about January leads Flynn and his
new friend Kaz into danger and intrigue as they find themselves falling for each other and solving the
mystery. The characters are believable, the mystery is interesting, and the action is often fast-paced. Flynn's
internal struggle to open up about his sexuality carries weight, and readers will be drawn into his emotional
journey and his adventures in amateur sleuthing. VERDICT A fun mystery with a credible emotional pull; a
general purchase for most YA collections.--Cenevieve Feldman, San Francisco Public Library
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Feldman, Genevieve. "Roehrig, Caleb. Last Seen Leaving." School Library Journal, Oct. 2016, p. 115.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A466166978/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=06bdd803. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A466166978