We'll Pull Out These Memories...and They'll Make Us Feel Safe

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson expresses a fresh take on a common mental illness. Most of Anderson's novels reflect realistic issues; this one, however, drives away from direct teenager problem and the focus is how mental illness affects life as a whole.

Hayley and her father have been on the road for years. After he returned from the war, her father was deeply affected with post traumatic stress; therefore driving from state to state and desperately trying trying to find enough money to pay for food became a way of life. However, senior year was when Hayley's father chose to settle in his mother's old house. Despite Hayley's attempts to get them on track, her father continues to go in and out of an alcoholic state, and the adjustment to public school is not an easy road.

As her story continues, Hayley is affected by the memory of her childhood; her father's absence, her step mother's alcoholism, her grandmother's loving touch and care. Her father slowly begins to spin further out of control; between his alcoholism, recreational drug use, and inconsistent temper its no wonder her life is a complete tornado.
When Hayley meets Finn, a charming swimmer from school, she tries to put a wall up to avoid anyone getting too close to her. The more time she spends with him, however, the more she realizes the two aren't so different. But her happiness seems to be a sham because she realizes her life will never be the picture perfect dream she could ever hope for.

The concept of Anderson's novels usually reflect a teen who needs to find their way. Her father's mental illness continues to affect Hayley to a point where she cannot even consider her own future without worrying she'll be leaving her father in a state of depression and despair. Her past troubles resurface, but it isn't until she begins to accept and move forward that she realizes life is hers to live.
This novel goes inside the brain of a past veteran, but also shows how one can accept and live with the memories too painful to forget. Finn's character provides comic relief, but he also serves as an anchor that Hayey desperately needs. His life is no happily ever after either, and the more she finds out, the more she is able to open up and take down the wall she has surrounding her.

I honestly believe this book will give readers, especially young adults, a new view on post traumatic stress. It's something heard about, but never truly understood. And although the veterans are the ones who suffer internally, the impact it has on a family, however broken they are, is devastating.

I Realize Now that Dying is Easy. Living is Hard...

It has been a while, but crappy freshmen essays seemed to be holding me back from reading. *Gasp* I know, an English teacher who has too many essays to grade. Crazy.

This was one of those independent reading books that all the girls read and loved, so of course, it was my turn. And luckily, I didn't get swept up in the movie craze so I was able to read the book first. I have to admit If I Stay by Gayle Forman took me a while simply because of how sad it was. I was going through an emotional period of time, and I knew that if I read this book at a steady pace, I would be bawling.  

Mia Hall is a senior in high school with a loving family, a wonderful and supportive boyfriend, and a promising future. She applied to the Julliard music program for the cello, and all signs point to acceptance. Her boyfriend, Adam, has a band that is just beginning to take off, and her family is picture perfect. Then tragedy strikes. Mia and her family are in a car accident; She finds herself watching the events to follow from the sidelines, literally, and realizes she is at the in-between stage. She isn't dead yet; this is the choice she must make.

This novel is full of flash backs of Mia's past, her worries about the future with Adam and her choice to attend the music school in New York, and her family. Mia has lost her family, this much she knows, but her decision to stay on earth with whatever she has left is a struggle. Everything tells her to give in and let go, but there are still things she is desperately trying to hold onto.

The novel gives a new meaning to the idea of strength. Mia is a teenager who has lost everything she knew, yet she has to make the decision to hang on in hopes of being strong, or to let go in hopes that she and the rest of her friends and family can move on.

Every turn of the page was full of emotion. Forman made so many references to music- classical, rock, punk- so it made it even more interesting. I mean who doesn't like a Nirvana "Something in the Way" reference?
This was a great read; sad and very emotional, but worth it. Mia's strength, her character, and everything that surrounds her makes her choice harder, but she shows us that choice is exactly what everyone has.

There Is Nothing Perfect, There Is Only Life

Lily Owens grew up motherless. Her father resents her because it was Lily who was accidentally responsible for his wife's death. At least that's what she has been told. Lily finds herself drawn to her black housekeeper and mother figure, Rosaleen. After an incident in town, Rosaleen and Lily are arrested. It was later that night when Lily made the decision to break Rosaleen out of jail and search for answers about her mother. With $35, a week's worth of clothes, and the only pieces of her mother she has, Lily and Rosaleen are on the run as a young white girl and black housekeeper. Lily follows the only clue about her mother she has- a picture of a negro virgin Mary with the words "Tiburon" on the back. 
Following this picture leads her and Rosaleen to the doorstep of the "calendar sisters": August, June, and May. Desperately seeking answers but afraid of the outcome, Lily puts off asking the three sisters about knowing her mother or telling them the truth about where she and Rosaleen came from. August takes her in as one of their own and begins to teach her the ways of beekeeping and selling honey. Throughout the weeks Lily stays with the sisters, she begins to discover pieces of her past, her present, and herself that help to guide her. She discovers love, faith, finding herself in a world where she shouldn't belong, and how to forgive her mother, but more importantly herself.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a coming of age story that takes place right as the Civil Rights Movement was beginning. Lily is fourteen and makes a brave decision that kick starts the beginning of her life. This story is similar to The Help in the sense that it shows strong female presence in a world where black and white are supposed to be separate. Lily is young when she leaves home, and although the book only takes place within a few months, it appears she has grown a few years by the end.
One of the quotations from the book : "People, in general, would rather die than forgive. It's that hard. If God said in plain language, "I'm giving you a choice, forgive or die," a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin". This stuck with me because throughout the entire novel Lily struggles with forgiving her mother, father, and herself. Forgiveness is a hard concept, but it's something everyone struggles with. I have been struggling with forgiveness for a few months now, so I think that is why I fell in love with this book so much. It is important to take in the world that August and her sisters provide for Lily because each of us has had a similar situation where it seemed we would rather be angry than let go.
Lily's coming of age journey is definitely uplifting, spiritual, and puts into perspective the time period. Lily discovers who she is in a place where she shouldn't belong, she finds out the answers she has been craving, and she begins to let go and realize she is enough in this world.

I had to read this book because I am teaching it as a summer reading option come September, but I am so glad I did. It really was a quick read, but such a feel good one for the summer. I did purchase the movie through Amazon so I can show it in class, but if it's anything like The Help, I look forward to it. This book really does give perspective and shows you that you are worth it, and even in a world where you might not fully belong, it is possible to find yourself and move forward. Truly amazing.