Showing posts with label Suicide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suicide. Show all posts

Monday, March 22, 2010

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead-- Julie Anne Peters


Parents are definitely not going to like this one!

Daelyn is done with this life... so done with it that she's attempted suicide (and failed) multiple times, just adding to her sense of worthlessness. Luckily, she finds a website called Through the Light, which guides you step by step through your suicide process. After years of being bullied, harassed, abused, and overlooked Daelyn is ready to die. Since her first two wrist-slitting attempts were failures, and drinking bleach and ammonia didn't work either, she really wants to find a successful means to her end. Through the Light details all the different ways to end your life, how hard they are to execute, and how painful they are... this is the part I expect parents will hate.

But as her day of death draws nearer, Daelyn finds herself drawn into the lives of two other people. A homeschooled boy, Santana, won't give up on her, even though she is in a neck brace and can't speak. He sees a spark of life in her that she doesn't see herself, and wants to unravel the mystery that is Daelyn. And Emily, a chubby teased girl at school tries to befriend Daelyn too, and refutes all of Daelyn attempts to snub her.

But in the end, will the efforts of others break through Daelyns dark cloud of a lifetime of depression? And if she does end up going "through the light" which light will it be, life or the afterlife?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Hold Still-- Nina LaCour


Caitlin and Ingrid were BFFs. They did everything together and really had no need for anyone else in their lives. But then Ingrid committed suicide, leaving Caitlin alone, confused, and rebellious.

Ingrid leaves behind a journal just for Caitlin, and slowly but surely Caitlin reads it and learns a little bit about Ingrid's motivation. Caitlin needs to learn how to live again, how to make friends, and how to let people in.

Honestly, there is nothing truly innovative here. I just didn't quite feel Caitlin was authentic, and even though we get glimpses of Ingrid through her journal entries, she doesn't feel real enough to spark such a depression in Caitlin. A side character, Dylan, is a bit of a bright spot in this tale, but even she isn't really a unique character either... Dylan is a lesbian who is portrayed not stereotypically but just typically...

Still, there are girls out there who are always looking for the next tearjerker. This one might fit the bill. I would recommend this to girls who liked the BFF suicide part of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why, Black Box by Julie Schumacher, You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn, or Stay with Me by Garret Freymann-Weyr.