Review: Willow

Title: Willow
Author: Julia Hoban
Publication date: April 2nd, 2009

Summary:
Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, Willow’s parents drank too much wine at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it—Willow lost control of the car, and both of her parents were killed.

Now seventeen, Willow is living with her older brother, who can barely speak
to her. She has left behind her old home, friends, and school. But Willow has found a way to survive, to numb the new reality of her life: She is secretly cutting herself.

And then she meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is. When Guy discovers Willow’s secret, he pulls her out of the solitary world she’s created for herself, and into a difficult, intense, and potentially life-changing relationship.

Julia Hoban has created an unflinching story about cutting, grieving, and starting
anew. But above all, she has written an unforgettable tale of first love.

Review:
Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to start with this! I suppose I'll start by saying that first of all, I loved the cover on this book. This would be a book that I would buy on impulse for the cover alone, even if I knew nothing else about it.
But more importantly, the book itself was AMAZING. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly suggest that you get a copy as soon as possible. There are a few other YA books I'm aware of about cutting, but I think this one captures it almost perfectly. As someone who's witnessed a lot of other people struggle with cutting, I'd say that this book is very realistic. Willow was very real, and very powerful - on both the subject of cutting, and of finding love. It was written in such a way that you could definitely feel the emotion. I can't think of anything else I've read that was written quite like this - and I really liked it. I think I've run out of words to describe how I felt about this book. If you haven't read it, and want to, do yourself a favor and find a copy of it somewhere. I know I had a bit of a hard time finding it because Borders didn't carry it, but if you can get a copy of it, it's an absolutely amazing book that I would recommend to anybody. It's definitely in the top 10 of my all time favorite books.


Characters: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
Originality: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Overall grade: A+

"Doing It" Contest Winner!

Because today is my birthday (finally) I have chosen the winner for my first giveaway, Doing It by Melvin Burgess.

The winner is: Katie :)
I've sent you an email, please respond within 72 hours or I'll have to pick a new winner.

Thanks to everyone who entered! If you didn't win, you still have another chance to win more books in my 25 Followers Giveaway.

Contest in celebration of having 25 followers!

I've been thinking for a while now, "I think I'll do a contest when I reach 25 followers." I reached that goal today, thanks to Kayla! :) So now, I'll be holding a contest in celebration of that. It will be slightly bigger than my last one (which ends on Tuesday - check it out if you haven't done so already).

When it ends, I'll pick two winners.
First place winner gets their pick of two of the following books.
Second place winner gets the remaining book.




To enter: Leave a comment with your email address, and tell me what you like most about my blog.

Extra entry: Post about this contest somewhere, and give me a link to it.

Open to: USA and Canada. (Yes, Canada. I've had a few requests for this, so for this contest, all of you Canadians can join too! :D)

Deadline: May 4th. Winners will be announced on May 5th.

In My Mailbox (4/20 - 4/25)

While I didn't get anything in the mail this week, I did find a few books on sale at Borders that I picked up :) $3.99 each, yay! I love book sales. I've heard of a few of these books before, so I just decided to pick up all of the YA ones I could find ;D

Also, I want to apologize for not having any reviews for any of the recent books I've been getting. I've got quite a few books from before I started blogging that I'm trying to finish first, so that's why you've been seeing mostly older books. I will get to the other ones soon, though, I promise! My review for Willow should be coming in a few days ;)


Local Girls
Jenny O'Connell

Kendra and Mona are best friends, local girls who spend their summers catering to rich tourists and the rest of the year chafing against small-town life. Then Mona's mom marries one of the island's rich summer visitors, and Mona joins the world of the Boston elite, leaving Kendra and Martha's Vineyard behind. When Mona returns the following summer, everything is different. Now Mona spends her days sunbathing with her private-school friends, while Kendra works at The Willow Inn -- a job she and Mona once hoped to do together.

Unlike his sister, Mona's twin brother Henry hasn't changed. He's spending his summer the way he always has: with long, quiet hours fishing. Early mornings before work become special for Kendra as she starts sharing them with Henry, hoping he can help her figure Mona out. Then Kendra hatches a plan to prove she's Mona's one true friend. She'll uncover the identity of the twins' birth father, a question that has always obsessed Mona. And so she sets out to unravel the seventeen-year-old mystery of the summer boy who charmed Mona's mother. But are some secrets better off staying buried?

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The Book of Luke
Jenny O'Connell

Emily Abbott has always been considered the Girl Most Likely to Be Nice -- but lately being nice hasn't done her any good. Her parents have decided to move the family from Chicago back to their hometown of Boston in the middle of Emily's senior year. Only Emily's first real boyfriend, Sean, is in Chicago, and so is her shot at class valedictorian and early admission to the Ivy League. What's a nice girl to do?

Then Sean dumps Emily on moving day and her father announces he's staying behind in Chicago "to tie up loose ends," and Emily decides that what a nice girl needs to do is to stop being nice.

She reconnects with her best friends in Boston, Josie and Lucy, only to discover that they too have been on the receiving end of some glaring Guy Don'ts. So when the girls have to come up with something to put in the senior class time capsule, they know exactly what to do. They'll create a not-so-nice reference guide for future generations of guys -- an instruction book that teaches them the right way to treat girls.

But when her friends draft Emily to test out their tips on Luke Preston -- the hottest, most popular guy in school, who just broke up with Josie by email -- Emily soon finds that Luke is the trickiest of test subjects . . . and that even a nice girl like Emily has a few things to learn about love.

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Rich Boys
Jenny O'Connell

For seventeen-year-old Winnie, summer can't arrive fast enough -- anything to get out of the house and escape the cold war brewing between her parents. With her older sister, Shelby, spending the summer in Boston, Winnie's left to deal with the situation all by herself. Which is why she's happy to spend all day away from home at a cushy job -- camp counselor at the prestigious Oceanview Inn.

And when the Barclays, a wealthy summer family, offer Winnie an additional babysitting job in the evenings after work, she jumps at the opportunity. Little Cassie Barclay is fun to take care of, and hanging out in the gorgeous Barclay summer house overlooking the harbor is far more pleasant than being on the front lines of the battle between her parents.

Then Cassie's older and devastatingly attractive stepbrother Jay arrives on the island after a disastrous first year at college, and he seems to want nothing more than to wreak havoc for his stepmother and the rest of his family. Winnie soon discovers that life in the Barclay summer house isn't so perfect after all, and what was supposed to be a carefree summer escapade is quickly becoming more complicated than she ever thought possible....

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What Happens Here
Tara Altebrando

When Chloe's parents decide to take her to Europe the summer before senior year of high school, she's ecstatic...she only wishes her best friend, Lindsay, could come too. Living in Las Vegas, they have long imagined the world through the casinos inspired by great cities and have vowed to travel the globe together someday. Unfortunately, Lindsay's parents won't agree to send her along.

So Chloe goes to Europe and sends postcards to Lindsay every day. But when she comes home, she must cope with shocking news that rips her family -- and Lindsay's -- apart. And as she tries to uncover the truth about what happened, Chloe soon begins to feel that Lindsay's brother, Noah, is the one person alive for whom she'd go to the ends of the earth....

From the acclaimed author of The Pursuit of Happiness, this is a stunning new novel of friendship, love, and loss, set against the dazzling dual backdrops of Europe and Las Vegas.

Review: Temping Fate

Title: Temping Fate
Author: Esther Friesner
Publication Date: June 1st, 2006

Summary: Until she stumbled upon the Divine Relief Temp Agency, Ilana Newhouse was having a hard time finding a summer job. Apparently, a t-shirt that reads "ORC: The Other Green Meat" isn't appropriate for an interview. But when she reports for her first day as a temp, Ilana discovers why Divine Relief isn't shy about hiring someone a little left of ordinary. Ilana is temping for the extraordinary Greek mythological goddesses, the Fates. The three Fates are responsible for spinning, measuring, and cutting all the life-threads on the planet. Now her summer is going to be less about surviving a stuffy office and more about avoiding being turned into a pig - or worse!


Review:
I was a bit skeptical about this book at first, as I'm not usually a huge fan of books about dragons or wizards or gods or things of that sort. As I started reading, though, I really got into the book. It seems very weird for the first chapters, until you realize what's really happening. I was thinking, "This lady who's trying to hire her is crazy!! Why would anybody act like that?" but by the end of the book it just seemed natural. I think my favorite character in the book was Arachne - who was turned into a spider by the goddess Athena. She brought a bit more fun to Ilana's temp job with the Fates. I also loved the concept of the life-threads, that everyone has their own thread that is their life, and different aspects can be controlled by the Fates. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I originally thought I would, it was fun to read and it was definitely original.

Characters: 8/10
Plot: 8/10
Originality: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Overall grade: B

One Lovely Blog Award

Today I found out that I've received another award, from Katie at Katie's Book Blog. Wow, thank you!


This award is given to new blogs and blogging friends.

The rules to follow are:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


Well considering that I'm still fairly new to blogging, I'd say that all of the blogs I've discovered so far are new to me. :) So I'll nominate 15 of my favorites. Most probably won't be NEW blogs, because I don't think I'm aware of that many.

1. Addicted to Books
2. Juiciliciousss Reviews
3. Korianne Speaks
4. Michelle's Bookshelf
5. Read This Book
6. Reading is Bliss
7. The Compulsive Reader
8. In Bed With Books
9. Karin's Book Nook
10. Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf
11. One Reader's Trash is Another Reader's Treasure
12. Reader Rabbit
13. Mrs. Magoo Reads
14. Bookworm Readers
15. Bookluver-Carol's Reviews

My first award

So this is pretty cool, I got an award today thanks to Michelle at Michelle's Bookshelf. I've seen them on other blogs and I've always thought the zombie chicken one was pretty cool. I'm kind of curious about the origin of the zombie chicken award, haha. It's so random, and awesome. That's okay though, because I like random! I'm totally honored to get this. Thanks, Michelle!

So now apparently I have to nominate 5 other blogs to get the zombie chicken award.
1. Carol
2. Amy
3. Lauren
4. Laina
5. Karin

Yay, zombie chicken award! :)

And thanks again to all of you who follow my blog, or post comments. It means so much to me, and I love having conversations with fellow bloggers.

In My Mailbox (4/12 - 4/18)

So while I didn't get a lot of books this week, I'm still pretty excited about what I did get! Mostly about Willow, I've been wanting to read this for quite a while now. I think the mail is being extremely slow lately, because my iPod Touch still hasn't shown up either. Soon, I hope. But anyway, on to the books from this week!:

Willow
Julia Hoban

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, Willow’s parents drank too much wine at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it—Willow lost control of the car, and both of her parents were killed.

Now seventeen, Willow is living with her older brother, who can barely speak
to her. She has left behind her old home, friends, and school. But Willow has found a way to survive, to numb the new reality of her life: She is secretly cutting herself.

And then she meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is. When Guy discovers Willow’s secret, he pulls her out of the solitary world she’s created for
herself, and into a difficult, intense, and potentially life-changing relationship.

Julia Hoban has created an unflinching story about cutting, grieving, and starting
anew. But above all, she has written an unforgettable tale of first love.

I'm SO excited to read this!! I've heard amazing things about it. However, as you read before, I couldn't find it at the store here. So I had to wait for it to come from Amazon. It's finally here though, and I can't wait to read it.

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Teach Me
R.A. Nelson

Welcome to my head.
Let's hit the ground running.

With these words, high school senior Carolina "Nine" Livingston invites readers to take an up-close-and-personal glimpse at a secret and taboo affair.

Nine is immediately drawn to her new English teacher, Mr. Mann; to his brilliant exploration to poetry in class, and to the way he talks to her like an equal.

What begins as a friendship between student and teacher soon becomes more, as the two tumble into a passionate romance that goes against every basic notion of what's right and what's wrong.

Excited to read this one too. Books on this subject all seem to be the same after a while, though they still interest me.

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The Queen of Everything
Deb Caletti

High school junior Jordan MacKenzie's life was pretty typical: fractured family, new boyfriend, dead-end job. She'd been living with her father (the predictable optometrist) since her mother (the hippie holdover) had been too embarrassing to be around. Jordan felt like she finally had as normal a life as she could. But then came Gayle D'Angelo.

Jordan knew her father was dating Gayle, and that Gayle was married. Jordan knew it was wrong, and that her father was becoming someone she didn't recognize anymore, but what could she do about it? And how could she -- how could anyone -- have possibly guessed that this illicit love affair would implode in such a violent and disturbing way?

I've heard good things about Deb Caletti, but never read any of her books. When I saw this on bookmooch, I decided to try it. I hope it's as good as I'm expecting.

Review: Clay's Way

Before I post the review, I wanted to let you all know that I'm making a few revisions to the way I review books. I'll now post the date the book was (or will be) published, and I'm going to give a few more ratings in addition to the "Overall Rating". Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of what I liked or disliked about a book. I also think I'm going to switch the ratings to be out of 10 instead of 5, as I think this will work better. Thanks for your votes in the poll on the sidebar, and please vote if you haven't already done so! It really helps me out. :) Now on to the review.

Title: Clay's Way
Author: Blair Mastbaum
Publication date: July 1, 2004

Summary:
A wannabe punk rocker who writes bad haiku poetry, 15-year-old Sam is fed up with his middle-class parents, his geeky best friend, and his inability to do the raddest skateboard tricks. Then he meets Clay. Mistaking lust for fate, Sam becomes obsessed with the 17-year-old surfer boy, whose island cool masks an internal conflict even darker than Sam's. Directing his furious energy toward winning Clay's heart, Sam goes on a reckless odyssey to become everything Clay seems to be. Through hurricanes, car accidents, teenage parties, and monster waves they ricochet off each other until, on a remote beach, in the flickering light of torches and campfires, the violence and tumult of Clay and Sam’s dynamic propels them both through the hardest decisions and obstacles of their young lives.

Review:
I really enjoyed this book. A word of warning though - if you don't like reading books involving a lot of drugs and a lot of cussing, this isn't the book for you. However, I didn't mind it, and I thought this was a great book. I've never read anything quite like it before. Sam seemed a few years older than 16, I thought, judging by some of his actions and the way he thinks. It also seemed a bit unrealistic to me, the way Sam would pretty much do whatever he wanted with almost no consequences. I could definitely relate to him though, with his feelings towards Clay, wanting something that isn't easy to get, and being unsure a lot of the time. I also felt really bad for Sam, when Clay would do something and then basically push Sam away. Also, the ending didn't make a ton of sense to me.
I liked the style of writing. It seemed more like reading someone's personal story, kind of, rather than reading a book. Blair Mastbaum just has that raw kind of writing (with a lot of interjected cussing, as I mentioned earlier). Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again. It's kind of one of those books that every time you read it, you'll find some little thing you missed before.

Characters: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
Originality: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Overall grade: B

A quick question!

So, being relatively new to this blogging thing still, I'd like to know what you like/don't like about my blog. Please vote in the poll on the sidebar to your right. What would you change about my blog? Should I post more? Change my style of reviews? Change the layout? Do something else? I feel as if it can be a bit boring sometimes, and I want to make it fun for you! Any comments and suggestions are welcome :)

If you participate in the poll, and leave a comment with ideas, or simply just telling me what you like about the blog, I'll give you one extra entry in my giveaway.

And thanks to everyone who's read my blog, posted comments, or become followers. It means a lot to me and gives me motivation to keep doing this. When I first started, I was sure this would be a total failure. So thanks to everyone :)

-Briana

Review: The Mediator #1: Shadowland

The Mediator #1: Shadowland
Meg Cabot


Summary:
Suze is a mediator - a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.
But the very first day at her new school, Suze realized it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind...and Suze happens to be in the way.


Review:
Let me start off by saying that this isn't a book that I probably would've bought on my own. However, I received it in a surprise box of books so I decided to give it a try. It was better than I expected it to be, but I don't think it was completely amazing. It just seemed like a typical story to me, nothing extraordinary. It was able to hold my attention - I finished it in one sitting and if I can find the other books in the series, I'll probably read them as well. The writing and the whole plot just seemed a bit plain to me - I don't have a huge desire to read the whole series, but I didn't want to stop reading the book, either. While it was a fun read, this series probably won't be at the top of my list of books to read next. I've kind of got mixed feelings about this book. It wasn't bad, but it won't be a favorite of mine. Though I am curious about where Suze's relationship with the ghost in her room will go, and that's probably the main reason I'd read the rest of the series.


Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Review: Learning To Swim

Learning To Swim
Ann Turner


Summary:
Unfolding in a series of exquisite narrative poems, this is the haunting true story of a tragic summer in a young girl's life. Annie is supposed to be having a carefree summer -- but instead she must face the unwanted advances of an older boy in the neighborhood, who threatens her if she tells. It isn't until Annie's mother pries out the secret that Annie is released from her horror and isolation and can slowly begin to heal.


Review:
While this was a very quick read, it was still very emotional. I love the fact that it's done in poems, I think that best captures the story. It wouldn't have seemed the same any other way. And I'm not someone who prefers reading books in verse. I realized after I started reading it, that it's a true story from the author's childhood. That made me even more interested. It was a hard topic to read about, her being raped as a child by the neighbor boy. It's a very moving book, and if you can handle reading about topics like this, I'd suggest that you read it. It took me about 15 minutes to read from cover to cover, and it still affected me greatly. Ann Turner is capable of telling a moving story with few words. Anyone who can do that, is a winner in my book.

Overall Rating: 4/5

In My Mailbox (4/6 - 4/11)

This week was much more successful than last week :) I'm still waiting on a few books, so hopefully they'll show up next week. Along with my iPod touch... *grumble*
Anyways, here's what I received this week:

The Rule of Won
Stefan Petrucha

Meet Caleb Dunne, slacker extraordinaire. Caleb prefers to glide through life with the minimal amount of effort, so he isn’t too jazzed when his overachieving girlfriend, Vicky, convinces him to join a new school club based on a controversial book, The Rule of Won. Slackers don’t join school clubs, do they? As The Rule gains popularity, though, the club members start to gain power within the school. From dark posts on the club’s online message board to all-out threats in the hallways, it becomes apparent that the group is getting out of control. For slacker Caleb, though, the only thing worse than doing something is not doing something.

Darkly funny and exceptionally thought-provoking, The Rule of Won, inspired by the ideas behind books like the runaway hit The Secret, shines a light on the dangers of group thinking and the inner desires that can sometimes get the best of us all.

Thanks to Sophie at Mrs. Magoo Reads for holding the contest to win this book! It sounds interesting. I'm a tiny bit confused about the plot and the idea of the club, but I think that once I read it I'll understand better :) I'm hoping that this will be good; it sounds a bit different than anything I've read before!

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Learning To Swim
Ann Turner

Unfolding in a series of exquisite narrative poems, this is the haunting true story of a tragic summer in a young girl's life. Annie is supposed to be having a carefree summer -- but instead she must face the unwanted advances of an older boy in the neighborhood, who threatens her if she tells. It isn't until Annie's mother pries out the secret that Annie is released from her horror and isolation and can slowly begin to heal.

This is a really short book, and it's in poetry on one side of every page. I'll probably have a review of it up later today. I'm excited to read it.

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Such A Pretty Girl
Laura Wiess

They promised Meredith nine years of safety, but only gave her three.

Her father was supposed to be locked up until Meredith turned eighteen. She thought she had time to grow up, get out, and start a new life. But Meredith is only fifteen, and today her father is coming home from prison.

Today her time has run out.

Yay! I've been wanting to read this since I read and reviewed Leftovers a few weeks ago. I hope it's just as good - it sounds really interesting. I'm really starting to like Laura Wiess.

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Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie
Holly Black

When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.

But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there's Luis's brother, timid and sensitive Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet.

When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking down the hidden lair of the creature for whom Luis and Dave have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honorable. And as Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

I believe this is the second in the series (I'm pretty sure it goes Tithe, Valiant, Ironside. Anyone care to confirm that for me?) I've read Tithe before, so I'm excited to read this. I had checked it out from the library at some point, but only got halfway through it before I had to return it. Now I have my own copy! It may be a while before I review it, as I'll be more inclined to read newer books before I go back to something that I've finished most of. Still excited about having it, though.



Also, don't forget to enter my contest for Doing It by Melvin Burgess if you haven't already! It ends on the 28th, which is quickly approaching. :)

Review: The Possibility of Fireflies

The Possibility of Fireflies
Dominique Paul

Summary:
It's 1987. Heavy Metal is big and so is the hair. Set in a Maryland suburb, this coming-of-age story follows fourteen-year-old Ellie Roma -a thinker and aspiring writer- who must cope with an alcoholic mother and a volatile head-banging big sister. Ellie spends a lot of time alone, especially at night, when all she has to keep her company are the fireflies that flicker in the summer air . . . and the undying hope that someone will come and rescue her from her unhappy life. Then one day Leo enters her dark world. Leo is handsome, older and on his way to Hollywood to become a rock star. Ellie hopes that Leo will be the one to save her. Instead, Leo teaches Ellie that no one can save you -you have to find a way to save yourself. So one night --one terrible, frightening, thrilling night-- that's exactly what Ellie decides to do.

Review:
I went into this book with the impression that it would mostly be a love story between Ellie and Leo. But I was wrong, it was much more than that. The first few chapters were pretty much the typical life of a teenager - school, friends, and family. But then you start to realize that something is a bit wrong in the family. Ellie's mother is an alcoholic - and an abusive one at that. Most of the violence is taken out on Ellie's older sister, Gwen. I could sympathize with Ellie a lot through the book, but it made me wonder how teens can really deal with abusive parents like that. Once I got into it, I didn't want to put it down. It was a great book about Ellie trying to find her place in the world, and trying to figure out the right thing to do. A couple of the chapters at the end actually made me cry a little, and I don't usually cry over books much. Anyone who has abusive parents or just feels alone and is trying to find their place can sympathize with Ellie.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

In My Mailbox (3/30 - 4/4)

So I've decided to steal this idea from multiple other blogs that I've seen. Sometimes I'll get a few books a week, and other times I won't get any. But when I do, I'll post them here on either Saturday or Sunday. I haven't checked the mail yet today, but I'm hoping some more books will show up!

Before I tell what books I've received this week though, I've got something to share that I found a bit sad. I went to Borders today, hoping to pick up a copy of Willow that was just released two days ago. So I go in, head to the young adult section, and scan every inch of the shelves for it. What? What do you mean it's not here? Maybe it's in another section. I headed to the computer to look it up. And it says, "Not in store." Excuse me? It just came out two days ago, and you're not even telling me that it's "Likely in store", you're just flat out telling me "No we don't have it here." I left disappointed.
Have any of you gone to a bookstore lately to look for Willow or another newly released book, and found out that for whatever reason, they don't have it? Now I'm no expert on this (though I do hope to work at a bookstore one day), but it seems to me like they never had copies of it. I ended up ordering it off of Amazon, but I'm still disappointed. Borders usually has everything. :(

Anyways, here's what I've received for books so far this week! Not very exciting yet, but hopefully that will change when the mail comes later today.


Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide
Kay Redfield Jamison

From the author of the best-selling memoir An Unquiet Mind, comes the first major book in a quarter century on suicide, and its terrible pull on the young in particular. Night Falls Fast is tragically timely: suicide has become one of the most common killers of Americans between the ages of fifteen and forty-five.

An internationally acknowledged authority on depressive illnesses, Dr. Jamison has also known suicide firsthand: after years of struggling with manic-depression, she tried at age twenty-eight to kill herself. Weaving together a historical and scientific exploration of the subject with personal essays on individual suicides, she brings not only her remarkable compassion and literary skill but also all of her knowledge and research to bear on this devastating problem. This is a book that helps us to understand the suicidal mind, to recognize and come to the aid of those at risk, and to comprehend the profound effects on those left behind. It is critical reading for parents, educators, and anyone wanting to understand this tragic epidemic.

While this isn't exactly a young adult book, it's still a very interesting topic to me. I probably won't be reviewing it on here, but it is still a book I've received in my mailbox.


UPDATE: No more books in the mail this week. :( Oh well, I'll see what next week brings!