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Mental/ Psychiatric Illness |
| Doyle, Malachy |
Georgie
Georgie, a teenager in a mental
institution, is a hopeless case and he knows it. He is about
to be transferred to yet another institution and he is terrified.
He hasn't spoken since he was seven, he can't read or write and
is terrified of sleeping and leaving his room. He thinks the
new place is the end of the line, however when he meets Tommo,
he senses that things may be different. |
| Friend, Natasha |
Perfect
Thirteen-year-old Isabelle
Lee is trying her best to cope with her father's sudden death
two years ago. The problem is that her mother is not coping with
it and is not only emotionally absent from her daughters but
has made it clear that she doesn't want them to speak of their
father. She has removed all traces of him from their apartment
and tells her twin sister that "everything is fine."
Unfortunately, all is not fine and Isabelle
falls into a pattern of binging and purging. When her ten-year-old
sister, April rats her out, Isabelle finds herself attending
a group therapy session with other girls suffering from eating
disorders. Isabelle is astonished when Ashley Barnum walks in
because Ashley is perfect- perfect looks, perfect hair, perfect
student, perfect clothes, etc.
The book is very readable, the characters
are believable and pairs nicely with an earlier title called,
Fat Chance by Leslea Newman.
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| Friend, Natasha |
Lush
Thirteen-year-old Samantha Gwynn is not only trying to cope with middle school, her rapidly developing body which is bringing her a ton of unwanted attention and mourning the loss of her best guy friend; she is also keeping her father's alcoholism a secret and becoming angrier by the day as he spirals out of control and her ineffectual mother tries to "breathe through it." She takes refuge in her public library even though the librarian is not exactly warm and begins an anonymous correspondence via a book about whales with "AJK," whom she assumes is the high school girl she has been observing.
Just as in Friend's previous novel, Perfect, we find an engaging, sympathetic, imperfect but likeable protagonist, with imperfect but likeable parents and a realistic sounding ending. Friend did a wonderful job of portraying the watchfulness of the child of an alcoholic parent as well as the emotions which veer from hatred to protectfulness in the matter of seconds. |
| Harrar, George |
Not as Crazy as I Seem
Devon Brown has "tendencies."
They are getting in the way of his living a normal life. For
example, he needs to enter a building fourth or some multiple
of four, won't touch doorknobs without a hanky, won't eat in
the cafeteria, has to eat his food in groups or he can't eat
at all. With the help of a friend and a clever therapist, Devon
begins to confront the issues which contribute to his disorder
which is called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Interesting read. |
| Konigsburg. E.L. |
Silent to the Bone
This is a gripping tale of
true friendship. The story is told from the point of view of
Connor who is trying to help his best friend, Branwell, who stopped
speaking after his infant half-sister was shaken into a coma.
Branwell stands accused of the crime and unless Connor can find
a way to communicate with his friend to discover who really committed
it, his friend will most likely be convicted. It is a story of
secrets and emotional black-mail and betrayal by trusted adults.
This book is not for everyone. But it is tightly and believably
written and truly thought- provoking. |
| Wilson, Jacqueline |
The Illustrated Mum
Who else but Jacqueline Wilson
can tackle the problem of mental illness and its effects on a
family? This book is not for everyone. Ten-year-old Dolphin tells
us the story of her and her sister Star's attempts to care for
their increasingly unstable mother, Marigold. In Dolphin's eyes,
Marigold is beautiful and unique, covered in tattoos, tottering
around in high heels, dressing in unusual ways. To everyone else,
Marigold is trash and neglecting her family while refusing to
seek treatment for her manic-depression and going on benders.
Thirteen-year-old Star is angry and tired
of being a parent to her mother, so when her long-absent father
who didn't even know she existed, pops back into the picture,
Star is more than happy to begin a new life with him, away from
the insanity. Dolphin is invited as well, but she feels a fierce
loyalty to her mother as well as like a third wheel since Star's
father is not her father. She has never been told who her father
is. This searing glimpse into a rather messy, grim life is leavened
with humor and made believable by well crafted characters.
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