Identical: Guest Review

Najela from Brave New Adventure is back with one last guest review for Psychtember! This time she's reviewing Identical by Ellen Hopkins.

Summary: Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins trying to live in the abusive house of their parents. Their father is a district attorney and he has turned his attention to Kaeleigh while their mother is absent. Raeanne has turned to drugs and alcohol and men to get the love she can't get from their father. An accident that happened years ago is starting to take it's toll on the sisters, but with their Raeanne spiraling out of control, can Kaeleigh help her sister take control of her life before it's too late? Or will both sisters hit rock bottom with no way out? 

Likes: This novel was chilling, the amount of tragedy these "girls" endured. Had this story been in another format, like a straight prose novel, it would have been heavy handed and overwhelming, but Hopkins expertise with verse serves the novel well. The brevity of the verses serves the novel well and allows for the twist to be woven in seamlessly. I honestly didn't see the twist coming, but when you do get to that point, you see all the subtle hints Hopkins drops along the way. I've read quite a bit of Hopkins novel and this one is by far one of my favorites.

Psychological Aspect: The psychological aspect of this story is done so well that you don't see the twist coming. When you get the twist it doesn't come off as a gimmick, but something that you could honestly see happening. I'm trying not to give any spoilers, but the psychology behind this story is fascinating. If you read this story, I urge you to look up the disorder that one of the sisters (again, no spoilers) has and tell me that you didn't see that twist coming. I think I've said too much already. Seriously go read it.

Writing Tip: There are several ways a story can deal with a mental illness. It can something that is a known illness and newly diagnosed with people learning how to manage it. It can be something that the character has known for a while and is just dealing with it. Or it can be unknown, as in the case with Identical where a character is dealing with the symptoms of a disorder without being diagnosed. If you are going to write about a charcter dealing with any type of illness, you'll have to determine how far they are into the illness. That'll determine how much you should emphasize this. Here's a fabulous post for more advice on how to write about a mental illness.  http://atapestryofwords.blogspot.ca/2012/09/guest-post-how-much-should-you.html

Another Book to Read: Any Ellen Hopkins book!


Najela is a graduate from UC Riverside with a dual degree in Psychology and Creative Writing and finally making the most of both degrees. She works with kids and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Exceptional Student Education. She is also working on several writing projects including a Beauty and the Beast retelling webcomic coming in late October 2012. You can follow her at her website or her tumblr.  



I'm glad to hear you were impressed with Identical, Najela — thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Wintergirls: Guest Review

Najela from Brave New Adventure is back with another Psychtember post! Today she's reviewing Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Summary:  Lia's best friend, Cassie, died alone in a hotel room after running away and since then Cassie's been trying to make sense of the 33 phone calls she left that night. Lia is racked with guilt from her best friends death, but even then, she can't seem to bring herself out of the throws of her anorexia. She constantly wants to lose weight, deceiving her family into believing that she's healthier than she already is. She's already been to an inpatient care facility, going through the motions of being healthy and being okay. Her therapists are trying to unravel Lia's issues, her parents are blaming each other for Lia's issues. 

Likes: This was a chilling tale.  It was heart wrenching to see Lia trying to solve her own problems and the adults around her not being able to help. All of the characters were flawed and real. The adults were too busy blaming each other to be helpful. They just assume Lia's okay because she says she's okay, but they don't look into the subtle signs such as her cutting up her foods, the laxatives and diuretics hidden in her room, and the fact that they don't talk to her concerning her friends death. Lia was dealing not only with anorexia, but grief as well.  The two of these combine don't make a good mix and it seems that every thing that Lia deals with becomes too much and she goes to drastic measures to deal with her grief.

Psychological Aspect: The psychological aspect of this novel was chillingly real, especially towards the end when reality was blurred. Sometimes when you starve yourself long enough, you'll begin to start to hallucinate as your body starts to shut down. Anorexia is a psychological issue in which a person believes themselves to be overweight and goes to extreme measures to lose the weight they think they have. Cassie's friend suffers from an eating disorder known as bulimia,  in which someone binge eats, then purges (vomits) the food in order to stop themselves from gaining weight.

When I thought of this story, I didn't think the reasons why Lia and Cassie had eating disorders, but when I thought about it a little more to it than that. I'm not a psychologist, but within the confines of the story, the reasons were simple. They usually always are. Certainly there are enormous reasons why a psychological disorder would start, but sometimes there aren't. Cassie started copying all the girls she met at camp and Lia started copying her. They found that these acts soothed something inside of them. It's the same way someone becomes an alcoholic or a drug addict.

Writing Tip:  Psychological disorders typically don't happen overnight, it's a gradual process. The triggers don't always have to be a traumatic experience. For the sake of the story, it could be, but it would depend on where you start.

Another Book to Read: Hunger


Najela is a graduate from UC Riverside with a dual degree in Psychology and Creative Writing and finally making the most of both degrees. She works with kids and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Exceptional Student Education. She is also working on several writing projects including a Beauty and the Beast retelling webcomic coming in late October 2012. You can follow her at her website or her tumblr.
   
Thanks very much, Najela, for sharing your reaction to Wintergirls!

Fall For Anything: Guest Review

Najela from Brave New Adventure is here with another review for Psychtember, this time of Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers! 

Summary:  Eddie Reeves father, Seth Reeves, committed suicide and since then her life has fallen apart. Her mother's annoying friend, Beth, has pretty much moved in for the sake of "helping" her mother, and as a result treating Eddie as a nuisance. Eddie's only constant is her best friend, Milo who has been supporting her through this tragic time. But then Eddie meets Culler Evans, a photography student of her father's, has she found someone who can provide answers to her father's suicide?

Likes: It was an okay book. I didn't know what I was expecting, it could have almost been two different stories. The story is framed as a mystery, when it really is about Eddie and her grieving process about her father. The only character that was sympathetic to her pain was Milo and she kept pushing her away. While, I wasn't too keen on the whole mystery aspect to the story, Eddie's coping and processing of the grief caused her to act out in ways that wasn't expected. The characters were very real, even if I didn't like all of them (especially Beth). As mentioned before Eddie's emotions were erractic as she was dealing with grief. This is a very realistic portayal of grief, in my opinion, as everyone responds and experiences grief differently. Had the reader been given glimpses of life before the incident, Eddie's reactions would make more of an impact.

Psychological Aspect: The psychological aspect of this books deals more with the nature of grief. The Kübler-Ross model also known as The Five Stages of Grief, include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Kubler-Ross acknowledges that not everyone goes through all of these stages when a life altering event occurs and these aren't only emotions associated with grief. Emotions such as guilt and confusion can play into this as well.

Writing Tip: There are more than 5 stages of grief, but the nature of grief doesn't follow these stages. One minute, someone can be angry, the next minute they can be in denial. One thing this book does well is have triggers that bring these emotions to the forefront. Grief can cause a character to act out of character, which would have been presented in this book had scenes showing how Eddie used to be when her father was alive would have really heigtened the nature of her grief.

Another Book to be Read: I honestly don't read a lot of book dealing with grief, but grief doesn't always have to be someone dying. . Does anyone have suggestions?

Najela is a graduate from UC Riverside with a dual degree in Psychology and Creative Writing and finally making the most of both degrees. She works with kids and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Exceptional Student Education. She is also working on several writing projects including a Beauty and the Beast retelling webcomic coming in late October 2012. You can follow her at her website or her tumblr.
   
Thank you, Najela, for sharing your thoughts on Fall for Anything!

Readers, do you have any recommendations of other books dealing with grief?

Ultraviolet: Guest Review

Zahida from Musings of a YA Reader is stopping by the blog today with a guest review of Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson. Welcome back, Zahida! (You can read Zahida's guest post from last year's event here.)

After brainstorming a list of possible books to read for today’s guest post, I eventually settled on R.J. Anderson’s Ultraviolet for two main reasons: 1) I’m trying to read more books by Canadian authors and 2) I find that most books dealing with psychological issues tend to focus on schizophrenia or OCD whereas I knew that Ultraviolet dealt with synaesthesia, a neurological phenomenon rather than a mental illness. Furthermore, having only read one review of Ultraviolet, I didn’t know much about its plot and wouldn’t really be able to have my opinion of it be influenced by prior reviews. 

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.

This is not her story.

Unless you count the part where I killed her.

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison’s condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can’t explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori—the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that’s impossible. Right?"

Overall Thoughts: While I found it easy to get captivated by the story, Ultraviolet was also very different from what I expected. The first two-thirds of the novel was set at a psychiatric institution, allowing the reader to see Alison interact with other patients, attempt to be treated, and learn more about her condition. The last third of the book, however, took a surprising paranormal turn – and resulted in my enjoyment decreasing because it was so far-fetched. I did like though that Ultraviolet was written in such a way that if you wanted to, you could just believe that Alison was making some things up (since throughout the novel you kind of question her sanity).

Best Aspect: With her descriptive writing, I thought Anderson did a terrific job of giving the reader a feel for what having synaesthesia would be like (at least in the first half of the book, before Alison’s synaesthesia becomes more like a superpower). However, since Alison never bothers to let anybody know about her unique way of perceiving things, her synaesthesia goes undiagnosed until she participates in a neuropsychological experiment. Instead, it’s assumed that Alison has schizophrenia. It was therefore also nice to see Anderson address how prior biases about symptom presentation or a lack of information can lead to misdiagnoses. 

If I could change one thing … I’d have the characters be more fleshed out. Because the majority of the book is set at a psychiatric institution, most of the secondary characters were kids with psychological problems. Although it was easy to figure out what mental illnesses they were dealing with based on their actions or descriptions, I never truly got a sense of their personality as individuals. This may partly be because Alison distances herself from her fellow patients since she has her own issues to deal with.

Final Verdict: 3.5 hearts

Thanks for having me on your blog, Danya!

Zahida blogs as A Canadian Girl at Musings of a YA Reader. Originally planning to major in genetics, she decided to take the first year psychology course offered at her university as an elective because she figured the subject material would be interesting. After having a terrific professor and not being bored at all in lectures, she decided to pursue a major in psychology instead. She also decided to major in neuroscience to supplement her knowledge about the mind with knowledge about the brain. She is looking forward to (finally) graduating in November 2012 with an Honours BSc.  

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts on Ultraviolet, Zahida!

Marcelo in the Real World: Guest Review

Najela from Brave New Adventure is back with a Psychtember guest review of Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork!

Summary: Marcelo is afflicted with an autism-like condition. He has been going to a special school named Paterson where he works with horses and helps other children with mental “disorders”. His father, Arturo, gives him the option to work at the law firm during the summer and if he succeeds, he stays at Paterson, if he fails, he goes to a public school. Marcelo meets Jasmine, the other mailroom worker, and with her help he discovers what it means to truly be in the real world and to feel compassion for others.

Likes: I loved this book. I actually hugged it when I was done. All of the characters were  well-rounded and I loved Marcelo’s character. The narrative was soft and gentle with a very contemplative nature, I loved being in Marcelo’s head and getting his opinions about the world around him. I enjoyed reading about Marcelo’s journey into the real world and the difficulties he had to overcome in a world where people lower their expectations of childen with special needs. Marcelo was one of the smartest people in the entire law firm and had a good sense of justice. Marcelo’s interest is religion gives the story a very strong moral aspect, without being preachy. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Marcelo stands up to his father and realizes that he can do even more than he originally thought possible. It's rewarding to see a characters reach their full potential and realize they have talents and passions to offer the world.

Psychological Aspect: There is a deep psychologial component concerning children with special needs that not only affects the child, but the whole family as well. Marcelo's family often struggle with doing what's right or doing what's practical. Is it right to ask a child to do something they might not be ready for? Is it practical or right to push him? When it comes to children with special needs, sometimes it's easier for caretakers to do the tasks that make life easier on themselves rather than their children. In this case, Marcelo's parents had to determine what was best for their son, even if it was something that was hard for him in the beginnings.  

Writing Tip: There is a severe lack of representation in YA novels about children with special needs. I understand, it's had to write from the perspective of some with a disability, but the easy thing to remember is that a character should not be defined by their disability. Do your research and choose a few symptoms for your character to have, then write them as you would write any other character. Make their voice engaging and fresh, but don't make the disability a character flaw. A character with autism could be stubborn whether they had autism or not, that's just a part of his character.

Another Book To Read: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon



Najela is a graduate from UC Riverside with a dual degree in Psychology and Creative Writing and finally making the most of both degrees. She works with kids and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Exceptional Student Education. She is also working on several writing projects including a Beauty and the Beast retelling webcomic coming in late October 2012. You can follow her at her website or her tumblr.

I'm glad to hear you loved this one so much, Najela!

Speak: Guest Review

I'm pleased to welcome Najela from Brave New Adventure back to the blog today for her guest review of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Najela contributed a series of guest posts for Psychtember last year, on the Big 5 personality traits in YA characters (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism), and this is the first of several guest reviews she's doing this year!

Summary:  Melinda Sordino is an outcast because she called the police and broke up a wild party. She had her reasons for calling the police, but she must keep them a secret. As a result of the incident that occurred at the party, Melinda is silent and doesn’t speak. She is failing school, ditching class, her parents are fighting and inattentive, and her friends have deserted her. Melinda only has her art class to look forward to and her assignment is to spend the year with artistic works centered around the word given to her by her teacher. Melinda’s word is “tree”. When the past comes to haunt her, will Melinda be able to speak up for herself and protect her friends?

Likes: Even though Melinda doesn’t speak much, her inner thoughts are amazing to read. I  laughed at the way she perceives the world. I cried when she recounts the incident at the party. The author has made Melinda an intelligent and witty character who doesn’t wallow in her sorrow, even though it would be justifiable if she did. She doesn’t have any friends, people push her and bump into her at the halls. Melinda doesn’t dwell on these problems nor does she mope around the entire book. She takes action and she tries to heal as well. Taking action is how she heals. When she comes to the terms with the incident, we watch her journey from being a pushover for her new “friend” Heather to finally standing up for herself and saving countless others by speaking up.

Psychological Aspect: I believe the psychological aspect is done well. Selective mutism and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is what I believe that Melinda is struggling with and it written in a way that is empathetic without invoking pity. I think it’s important to realize that every character deals with situations in different ways and that there is no right or wrong way to grieve and heal. Anderson allows Melinda to grieve and heal without telling her (or readers) what they are supposed to feel. .

Writing Tip: When writing a character who can’t/won’t speak, it is important to make their inner voice engaging and interesting.

Another book to read: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney



Najela is a graduate from UC Riverside with a dual degree in Psychology and Creative Writing and finally making the most of both degrees. She works with kids and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Exceptional Student Education. She is also working on several writing projects including a Beauty and the Beast retelling webcomic coming in late October 2012. You can follow her at her website or her tumblr.

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts on Speak, Najela!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: Guest Review

Bonnie from A Backwards Story is dropping by today with a guest review of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer for Psychtember!

The YA psychological thriller of the year is, without a doubt, THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER. I was reading my ARC of this amazing debut novel back when Danya announced Psychtember. Immediately, I knew this book would be a perfect fit. Mara Dyer suffers from PTSD. If you’re unfamiliar with the term or what it entails, Wikipedia defines PTSD as:

  Posttraumatic stress disorder (also known as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response. 

Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal – such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hypervigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria (both DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10) require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. ~quote taken from PTSD’s Wikipedia page

Mara used to be an ordinary, happy teenager…until the day she woke up in a hospital to discover that her world had been shattered. One night, she snuck into an abandoned mental asylum with her best friend, boyfriend, and boyfriend’s sister…and the building collapsed. Mara was the only survivor, with barely a scratch on her—but she has no memory of that night.

She’s so traumatized by what happens that she cries in her closet, and has nightmares and visual hallucinations. She does things she doesn’t remember such as wind up with a bloody shard of mirror in her hand. Her mother is concerned and takes Mara to see a specialist, where she is diagnosed with PTSD.

The family moves to Florida hoping for a fresh start so that Mara can heal and move on, but the PTSD never goes away. Instead, it gets worse, but she tucks her hallucinations away where no one can find them and pretends that she’s coping. For example, Mara will be walking down the hallway to her room and see a portrait of her grandmother. She’ll believe that her grandmother’s eyes are moving, that she’s watching Mara. One day, she’s watching a news report concerning the murder of local student Jordana Palmer, but seeing a report where the police have recovered her friends’ bodies from the asylum.

When Mara walks into class for first time at new school and sees the classroom fall apart the way the building she’d been trapped in did and falls and bloodies up her nose. (Way to make a first impression, right?)

“Cracks appeared in the classroom walls as twenty-something heads turned in my direction. The fissures spidered up, higher and higher, until the ceiling began to crumble. My throat went dry. No one said a word, even though dust filled the room, even though I thought I would choke. 

Because it wasn’t happening to anyone else. Just to me. A light crashed to the floor right in front of the teacher, sending a shower of sparks in my direction. Not real. But I tried to avoid them anyway, and fell.” (~pg. 29, US hard cover edition, first printing)

When she goes into the bathroom to wash up, she hallucinates and sees a sinister image of one of the dead girls. That same day during lunch, she hears a dead boy’s laugh behind her, but of course, no one is there…until she turns the corner and swears she sees him:

“Someone laughed behind me. My head snapped up as my blood froze. It was Jude’s laugh. Jude’s voice. I stood slowly and faced the fence, the jungle, as I hooked my fingers in the metal and searched for the source. 

Nothing but trees. Of course. Because Jude was dead. Like Claire. And Rachel. Which meant that I’d had three hallucinations in less than three hours. Which wasn’t good.” (~pg. 35, US hard cover edition, first printing)

There’s another early incident where Mara sees a dog that has been abused by its owner and, fueled by hate, daydreams about his death. The man dies in the exact way she imagined during school hours. Or was he dead when she got there and she imagined their entire confrontation, which is why she so vividly imagined his death later?

The hallucinations get more serious. Mara becomes paranoid, thinking she’s being watched, thinking someone’s breaking into her house. Mara winds up seriously injured, making her mother think she’s suicidal. She experiences scenarios that may or may not be occurring in reality.

“But when I pulled into the driveway, her car wasn’t there. Neither was my father’s. The lights inside the house were off too. Where were they? I went to the front door and reached out to unlock it. 

The door swung in. Before I touched it. 

I stood there, my fingers mere inches from the handle. I stared, my heart in my throat, and raised my eyes slowly up the length of the door. Nothing unusual. Maybe they just forgot to lock it. 

…But the second I entered the hallway, I froze. When I had left the house with Daniel, all of the family pictures had been hung on the left side of the wall, opposite three sets of French doors on the right. 

But now all of the pictures were on the right. And the French doors were on the left. The yogurt fell from my hands, spattering the wall. The spoon clattered to the floor and the sound snapped me back into reality. I had a bad night. I was imagining things. I backed out of the hall, then ran to the kitchen and snatched a dishtowel from the oven handle. When I went back to the hallway, everything would be where it should be. 

I went back to the hallway. Everything was where it should be. 

I hurried to my bedroom, closed the door behind me, and sank onto my bed. I was upset. I shouldn’t have gone out; the party was not, in fact, what I needed. The whole thing was nervous-making and stressful and was probably causing a PTSD episode. I needed to relax. 

…I went to the closet to slip off my dress, but then I froze. An opened box sat on the closet floor. I had no memory of taking it down from the shelves. No memory of ripping the tape off the flaps and opening it since we’d moved. Did I leave it out? I must have. 

…When I noticed the silence, it stole the air from my lungs. I backed away from the closet and peered into the bathroom. The faucet was off. A single drop of water fell, sounding like a bomb in the stillness. The bathtub had overflowed, making the ceramic tile reflect the light like glass. 

I didn’t remember turning the water off. 

But I must have. 

But there was still no way I was getting in. 

…The bathtub drain needed to be unplugged. I made my way over to it carefully, but everything inside me screamed bad idea. I leaned over the edge. 

The emerald and diamond earrings glinted at the bottom. I raised my hands to my ears. Yup, gone. 

…I tested the water with my finger. Nothing happened. 

Of course nothing happened. It was only a bathtub. The pictures had distracted me and I let I overflow, then turned it off without remembering it. Everything was fine. I plunged my arm in. 

….For a second, I could not think. It was as if all feeling beneath my elbow had been cut off. Like the rest of my arm never even existed. 

[hospital]…‘Your arm must have been there for some time,’ [the doctor] said, meeting my eyes. ‘These are some serious burns.’ 

What could I say? That I tested the water before reaching in and it didn’t seem that hot? That it felt like something grabbed me and held me under? I could see in the doctor’s eyes that he thought I was crazy—that I did it on purpose. 

[later at home]...‘I was going to take a bath, but the earrings—’ I took a shaky breath. The earrings you lent me fell into the tub. I had to get them before I could unplug the drain.’ 

‘Did you?’ my mother asked. 

I shook my head. ‘No.’ My voice cracked. 

My mother’s eyebrows knit together. She walked over to me and put her hand on my earlobe. I felt her finger unhook the back of an earring. She held the emerald and diamond stud in her flat palm. I lifted my hand to my other ear; that one was in, too. I removed the earring and placed it in her hand as tears welled in my eyes. I’d imagined the whole thing. ” (~Excerpts from a scene between pgs. 144-151, US hard cover edition, first printing)

I’m not a psychologist, so I couldn’t personally say whether or not Hodkin is realistically portraying PTSD. To me, it feels well. Throughout the novel, it’s unclear whether or not Mara is losing her mind. What’s real and what isn’t? I’ll leave it for the experts to weigh in on the psychological ramifications of Mara’s experience!

For me, I just enjoyed the story for what it is. Which events are truth, and which are lies? Mara’s life is spinning out of control. Is she crazy? Is something unexplainable happening? Is there more at stake than what meets the eye? Unfortunately, answers won’t be provided until the sequel drops in 2012.

Bonnie runs the book review blog A Backwards Story.  While she isn't a psychologist, she is a writer and likes looking at the psyche of a character and seeing what makes him/her tick.  THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO CHARACTER TRAITS by psychologist Dr. Linda Edelstein is her favorite book to recommend to other writers because it's an in-depth look at every type of person, from serial killers to toddlers to one's boss.

Thanks so much for giving us a look at the depiction of PTSD in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Bonnie!  

Bonnie has a more general (not psychology-focused) review of the book up on her blog here (which includes a detailed cover design vlog!)

Sisters in Sanity: Guest Review

Ashley from Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing is back with another awesome guest review for Psychtember! This time it's for Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman.

Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman is a story that can be read on several different levels and it brought a lot of things to mind for me while I was reading.

Brit is 16, plays in a band and is trying to cope with the fact that her family changed forever when her mom started manifesting signs of Schizophrenia. Her dad couldn't bring himself to commit her to a mental institution, and she eventually walked out and started living on the streets. Several years later, her father remarried and Brit now feels displaced, like her dad is far happier with his 'new' family- the step-monster and their baby.

Her dad tells her that they are going to take a vacation to the Grand Canyon as a family. She's initially resistant, because her band has a really big gig that she would have to miss, and it's not like she's really been having a good time at home lately. But then, her dad tells her it will just be the two of them driving, because the drive is too long for the baby and she's hopeful that it's going to feel like old times with her and her dad, back when they were really close.

My heart legitimately broke for her when her dad pulls up to Red Rock, a center for rebellious teens that 'rehabilitates' them. Large men grab her from the car and drag her inside the center. She's completely confused, a little bit scared and a lot a bit pissed off. 

The center is an absolutely horrid place. None of the staff members have the credentials or education to be successful in their jobs, and these are the people who are there supposedly offering therapy and guidance to give these kids better futures. But their idea of therapy is moving cement blocks in the sweltering hot sun for hours, or 'confrontational therapy' where one girl stands in the middle of the rest and they all yell out horrible and degrading things (you're fat/ugly/a slut/trash/unlovable etc) until the girl in the center breaks down and then the 'healing can begin'. Let me tell you something you probably already know- the idea of confrontational therapy being anything even remotely resembling therapeutic is bullshit. It's a form of bullying. And it's not going to help them.

I read on Gayle Forman's blog that she actually wrote this book because of places like Red Rock. Places that claim to be correctional and healing centers for teens but are really absolutely terrible horrible places that crush souls. She wrote this book to bring attention to what these centers were really doing to kids which I think is important. I can't imagine a parent making the decision to send their child to a facility like this without at least checking the staff credentials. Seriously.

There are a few things that really bothered me about this book. First, is that Forman gave Brit's mother Schizophrenia. The mom didn't really get a lot of face time in the story, but her absence is critical, both to some of the stuff Brit is dealing with, and how her dad reacts to it and to her. The actual references to the mom were done well, and I thought were a fairly accurate portrayal. However, Schizophrenia is a mental illness that generally manifests itself in youth. I'm talking teenage years to early 20s. It never specifies how old the mom was when she started displaying symptoms, and it does sometimes manifest later in women, but I feel like, if Forman was going to use a mental illness that has such a specific onset period, she should have addressed that it was atypical for symptoms to manifest so old. Brit was decently old when it started happening, (between 9 and 11, I think) which means her mom couldn't have been younger than 29. That's really late for Schizophrenia.

The other annoyance I had is something that annoys me every time I see it. I hate when people use religion to make a joke. Any and all religious cracks are distasteful to me, and it grates on my nerves every single time I see it, no matter who it's directed at. And, Red Rock is in Utah. Which means there were lots of Mormon jokes. After the 5th or 6th time, I was really annoyed and disappointed that the book felt the need to go there. I promise, it's possible to write a book without making a joke at a religion. Thank you... Let's move on.

Anyway- One of the things that really struck me when reading this book is the idea of over-diagnoses. On page 9, Brit is given her 'diagnosis' from her 'therapist' and she's diagnosed with ODD- Oppositional Defiance Disorder and the definition the book gives is "Often loses temper, often argues with adults, actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules, deliberately annoys people, blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior, is often angry and resentful, is often spiteful and vindictive..."

I'm not that far from my teenage years. My 5 year high school reunion just passed. And I remember, very well, what it's like to be a teenager, and I spend a lot of time around them now. I have yet to meet a single teen, ever, who doesn't fit this diagnosis. Seriously. It's a part of being a teenager. There are teens who struggle more than others, who could benefit from an ODD diagnosis and the therapy or help that would follow. Even if it's something as small as making the parents realize that there is other language that might reach their teen better. So, some people would most certainly benefit from a diagnosis like this. However, if you really wanted to, I'm pretty sure every single teenager could be given the same diagnosis and we should not be calling a normal developmental stage a mental illness. Seriously. Most people grow out of it. Some don't, some won't, and some just take a little longer than others. But almost everyone does and giving every single defiant, ornery and difficult teenager an ODD diagnosis isn't going to do anything good for anyone. 

Then that got me to thinking about other disorders that might be over-diagnosed. Kids have always been expected to be hyperactive. But now, any kid that has a hard time sitting still seems to have a potential ADD/ADHD diagnosis. And again- some of these kids legitimately do have the disorder. I've worked with kids (and adults) that legitimately have an attention disorder. But not every child needs to be given an attention disorder. But not every kid has one. Again- we should not be diagnosing mental illness for normal developmental stages.

I feel it important to add here that I am not an expert. This is nothing beyond my opinion, based on things I've seen, read and information I've gotten from professors and research. I'm not even kind of qualified to diagnose mental illness. But it's something that I feel has become too easy. It's easy to just decide your slightly challenging child has a disorder. That can be 'fixed'. It's how I felt Brit's dad reacted in this book. Easy solution- She has a disorder, so let the 'professionals' make her better.

The book itself is very well written (aside from the niggling annoyances I pointed out before) and I really connected to, really felt for the characters in the story. A lot of these girls, not just Brit are very well written and I found myself really drawn to these girls. And the members of Brit's band are legitimately amazing. Seriously some of the absolute best friends a girl could ask for. The secondary characters and their relationships were all so well done, so well brought together.

Really, this is a book that really needs to be read by more people. It's a shame that it gets so overlooked because it has so much to add, so much to offer.

Ashley has been fascinated by the mind since before she can remember and decided long before college that Psychology would be her field of study. She received a BS in Psychology and is currently deciding where it should take her next. Ashley would like it to be made clear that she is not an expert in the field, and that the thoughts and feelings expressed are hers derived from both academic and personal study and experience.  

Thanks very much for the detailed, thoughtful review, Ashley!

Mockingbird: Guest Review

I'm happy to welcome Ashley from Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing back to the blog, for another Psychtember guest review! She's sharing her reaction to Mockingbird.

The young protagonist of Kathryn Erskine's Mockingbird is Caitlin, an 11 year old girl with Asperger's Syndrome. Caitlin views the world in a strong dichotomy of yes or no, black and white and her world view really allows for no grey area. She has always relied on her older brother to help her understand the world. When he suddenly dies Caitlin is left feeling adrift. She's lost her compass and has no idea what to do or how to feel. After reading about closure in her dictionary, she tries to find some. 

Disorders on the Autism Spectrum (including Asperger's) are incredibly complex, unique and varied and they are also something that, try as we might, we don't have much understanding of. We can try to learn more about the individuals who have a disorder, but really, our knowledge and understanding is always going to be limited. And it's going to be different for every single person. 

Because of that, I always have a hard time judging whether or not a book that has an character or narrator on the Autism Spectrum is realistic or accurate. Because I can't know for sure. All I can say is whether or not I found it to be authentic or believable. And in this book, I found myself fully inside Caitlin's mind, struggling with her as she tried to relearn how to be when her whole world has ruptured and she's lost the one person who used to be able to reach her. She was so lost and so confused through much of the book and my heart really went out to her. Especially because she doesn't understand things in the same way that everyone else does and she doesn't really know how to communicate or relate to people on a the same level as someone with a 'normal' development pattern. 

I'll admit that it's been a while since I read this book and some of the specifics and details aren't as clear as they would have been if I'd read it more recently, but what I do still have are the impressions and feelings I got reading the book. And the emotional memories tell me, that no matter the flaws this book may have, it is a book worth reading, especially if you are interested in reading books that deal with mental illness. I think it's an important addition and I love that it's written for a middle grade audience. That's an age group I think it's really important to teach empathy to, and empathy is a huge part of Caitlin's learning process. 

I will say that the book had a tendency to get on the preachy side. There's an entire part of the story that is devoted to the tragic way her brother was killed. And the book is really short. It's a quick read, and I just thought that having an entire portion of the book devoted to the tragedy as a whole was too much when we were also supposed to be focusing on Caitlin and I couldn't quite decide if Erskine wanted to write a 'tragedy' book or a 'mental health' book. If the book had been longer, it could have worked. But trying to give proper attention to both things doesn't work as well in a novel of this size and complexity. 

However, I don't think that should deter anyone from reading this book. It's definitely a book I would recommend to people wanting another perspective in trying to understand the Autism Spectrum and you might be surprised by how much a little girl who doesn't really understand much about feelings can make you feel.

Ashley has been fascinated by the mind since before she can remember and decided long before college that Psychology would be her field of study. She received a BS in Psychology and is currently deciding where it should take her next. Ashley would like it to be made clear that she is not an expert in the field, and that the thoughts and feelings expressed are hers derived from both academic and personal study and experience.  

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts on Mockingbird, Ashley! 

Readers — have you read this one? What did you think of how it portrays Asperger's Syndrome?

Blood Wounds: Guest Review

Ashley from Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing is sharing another review for Psychtember today! She's taking a look at Blood Wounds.

While Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer isn't necessarily a book about a psychological disorder- one is certainly never specified, or identified- it is about a girl who is obviously struggling to accept and come to terms with a lot of different things, and one of the ways she chooses to cope is through cutting.

When I first heard about Blood Wounds, I was really excited. It's Contemporary, which I love, it's about secrets, and pain, about learning who you are and how to be strong for yourself. So, when the chance to borrow this from a friend's tour site popped up, I jumped. And I was legitimately excited when it came in the mail. I just knew I was gonna love it.

But- alas.

The book didn't deliver for me on a lot of different levels. I honestly don't like writing reviews when I can't think of anything I liked, anything that worked well for me. But they must still be written, and this is one I specifically wanted to write for Psychtember because of the portrayal of Willa as a cutter. But we'll come back to that.

As for the novel in general, I was disappointed. Willa is shown as growing up in a loving blended home, with stepsisters she gets along wonderfully with, a stepfather who loves her like his own and a supportive mother who does everything she can for her. But, Willa cuts. She gives herself a schedule, slips down into the basement, slices her skin and goes back to bed. But then, her orderly, perfect world is disrupted when she learns that her real father, who her mother never talks about, has killed his new family- a step-mother and half sisters she never knew existed- and might be headed to find her next. Cue drama and panic. (very short lived and unresolved drama and panic, I might add...)

To top that off, she also found out that her step-sister's rich real mom has decided to stop paying the mortgage on their house, which means Willa is going to have to switch schools, move into a significantly smaller, less nice house, while her step-sisters (who once again get any and everything they could possibly want) get to go to super awesome-fancy private schools to further cultivate their talents and interests. Oh, and what about the fact that apparently being happy in this new marriage means that Mom becomes a complete doormat to keep new husband happy and Willa has to try to earn and deserve adopted Papa's love, because she's pretty sure it's conditional. Perhaps their perfect world is not so perfect?

I felt like the story couldn't make up its mind about what it wanted to be. Am I a story about a sucessfully blended family? OR what about what appears to be a sucessfully blended family but is really still dysfunctional?! OR am I a story about a girl struggling with inner demons? Or am I a story about the lies and secrets of the past coming to haunt the present? A story about manipulation and misconceptions?

Sometimes, a story can be all of these things. A story can pull many parts of many stories and combine them into something so emotionally charged it just steals your breath. But, the book has to actually have emotion in order for that to be sucessful. This book felt clinical, like a bland recitation of the facts or the bones of the story. Blood Wounds never involved my emotions. And, coming from someone who gets emotionally invested in almost every story, who sometimes cries when characters die in books I don't even like, that's saying something. It's rare for me to be so completely detached from a story I'm reading.

The only time I felt any emotion while reading was during the scenes that talked about or showed Willa cutting- and it's not the emotion I was supposed to feel. They just felt so, wrong to me and that made me angry. I've read several books recently that handled the topic of cutting very well. I don't even kind of pretend to personally know what it's like, because I've never done it. But I've read enough stories, both in books and from people who were or are cutters, that I feel I have a decently good understanding of the thoughts and emotions that go into becoming a cutter. And it should never feel clinical or sterile. For some, cutting is a way to survive. It's a way to control a part of their life, to control what they allow themselves to feel, to release emotions that threaten to drown them. It's something that they do because they honestly don't know of any other ways to cope with the internal chaos. It's not something they schedule days in advance to do, because it's what's 'next' to be done. It is a result of intense Psychological turmoil, and that's not something that you can write into your day planner or reach your weekly quota on. Pain doesn't work like that. I imagine that in the beginning, they can feel in control of the action, but from every story, every account I've read or heard, it grows beyond that. It grows beyond something they can easily control and becomes a crutch, a drug that they need to thrive, that they need to retain their sanity. (You should read some of the stuff that Cheryl Reinfield and Stephanie Kuehnert have said about cutting) I never felt that from Willa.

This, more than any other book I've read, makes cutting seem like something that might be appealing. Because Willa does control it. Because she does decide when and what and how. And she never thinks about it as a problem, other than knowing it can't get 'out of hand.' It just felt, wrong. If you want a story that can really telegraph the fear and pain and hopelessness that overwhelms you, read Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert or Willow by Julia Hoban or Scars by Cheryl Reinfield. These are stories that bleed. Blood Wounds, not so much. And it's a story that needs a strong emotional core to matter, to be worth investing time into.

And I didn't feel like this one had that. It just felt, empty. And toward the end, after Willa has to decide whether she is going to continue cutting, whether she is going to tell her mom about it, it's one of the most empty scenes of self analysis, or self discovery that I've ever come across.

This goes back to my OCD post, but it makes me want to shake all these authors and tell them it's NOT okay to just toss something like this into their story. THIS is the type of book that makes those crappy Washington Post article seem a bit valid. Because, at least in my opinion, this one really did feel like the cutting was added to make the story more interesting. And that's just wrong. You should never use the intense inner struggles of human beings to make a story more edgy and dramatic.

I'd love to hear from any of you who have read this book. Any of you feel the same way? Any of you feel completely differently?!

Ashley has been fascinated by the mind since before she can remember and decided long before college that Psychology would be her field of study. She received a BS in Psychology and is currently deciding where it should take her next. Ashley would like it to be made clear that she is not an expert in the field, and that the thoughts and feelings expressed are hers derived from both academic and personal study and experience.  

Thanks for the honest review, Ashley!

Clean: Guest Review

I'm pleased to welcome Small Review to the blog today for a guest review of Clean by Amy Reed!

Clean by Amy Reed 
Release Date: August 9, 2011 
Publisher: Simon Pulse 
Pages: 288 
Received: ARC from publisher  
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars  
Goodreads Page 

Summary

From Goodreads: Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves and one another if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down.

 

Review

Do you see any sparkles here??
 

Nope, not a sparkle in sight and, really, this is so NOT my genre. So why in the world was I reading this book? I really don't know. Nostalgia? Ten years ago I would have loved this book. Maybe the cover? Something about it is eye-catching (though I don't know who that girl is supposed to be). Whatever the reason, I downloaded it and opened it up with the intention of reading a few pages to give it a shot.  

Before I knew it, I had read half the book. And then I read the other half. Clean is compulsively readable. It's broken up into three different types of chapters: larger sections narrated by either Christopher or Kelly (why only these two? I have no idea); small, paragraph-long first-person narratives of each of the characters; and group therapy sessions that read like a transcript for a play. Each type is relatively short and easy to blitz through. 

Still, even though I found Clean to be extremely readable, I didn't exactly like it. Like I said, it's just not my genre anymore. It was depressing (obviously, they're all drug addicts with family sob stories that led to their addictions) and left me feeling absolutely horrible afterwards. I guess that's a sign that Amy Reed did a good job in conveying the feelings of depressed, drug-addicted, family-issued teens, so points for that.  

But, bleh, I feel like I need to go read a book about rainbows and puppy dogs and maybe even Santa Claus just to help turn my frown upside down when I was done. 

Multiple narrators
 

The multiple narration really helped move the book along by breaking everything up into easy to read sections, but I don't think it was as successful as it could have been. With the exception of Eva, none of the voices were very distinct. Their stories were distinct and so it was easy to tell who was speaking given the subject they were speaking about, but their manner of speech was really very similar. 

I also don't feel like I really got to know any of the characters. Maybe this is the nature of the book, but while I know the intimate details of their histories and their issues now, I don't feel like I know who they are as people, which is sort of funny considering all of the mantras about people being more than just their issues or diagnosis. Not in this book.  

Instead of creating individuals that can really come alive off the page, the characters come across as generic collections of issues and mouthpieces for the associated feelings that typically go along with those issues. Some of the secondary characters were also extreme groan-inducing stereotypes. Though I prefer realistic characters that feel alive, I can see how this would be an effective tactic for a book like this. Readers who are going through similar situations will likely find it very easy to relate to and project themselves onto these characters.  
 

Will it punch you in the gut?

Yep, it probably will. Because even if the characters are little more than vectors for their issues, they are stunningly accurate vectors. Amy Reed clearly captures the feelings that teens going through those situations feel in a way that is searingly honest and incredibly effective. 

This is much less a book about drug use as it is a look at the psychological motivations and feelings of a person in these various situations. Drugs aren't really talked about all that much and the book never really goes into any details about the physical feelings and effects of drug use. 

While perhaps Amy Reed's teens are a little more in touch with their feelings and motivations than a real teen would be, this makes her book all the more useful for real teens searching for a source to help them understand their feelings. Clean reads very much like a psychologist's notes outlining exactly what the characters (and people in similar situations) are feeling and why they feel what they feel and do what they do. 

From a psychological standpoint, Clean gets full marks. The issues, motivations, and feelings touched on are spot on and make psychological sense. Halfway through the book the parents make an appearance, and their actions as well as their impact on their children are equally realistic (with the exception of the over the top stereotypes).

Bottom line
 

This isn't my genre, so I didn't love it. I felt depressed and wrung out after reading it, especially given the open ending that offers only a little hope. Readers who do enjoy books like this will probably love Clean as it is a solid addition to the genre. 

It should come as no surprise, but this book includes numerous references to drug use, sex (hetero and homosexual), rape, teen pregnancy, drinking, physical abuse, eating disorders, and cursing.   

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

 

Do you have any questions about Clean that I haven't addressed?  Feel free to ask in the comments!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Clean, Small! 


You can find Small on her Young Adult and Middle Grade book blog Small Review. She holds a BA in psychology with concentrations in psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and clinical psychology. She has worked with young adults in various in-patient and out-patient settings. She is still trying to find a behaviorism schedule that will encourage her to exercise daily (using chocolate as a reward apparently undermines the process).
 

Cryer's Cross: Guest Review

Ashley from Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing is here today for a Psychtember guest review of Cryer's Cross!

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann is a book I was really looking forward to reading. There was a lot of buzz about it in the blogging world before it came out. It seemed like it was going to be one of those wonderfully creepy books and it had a character dealing with a mental illness. Great, right?


Sadly, no. Not even close. :( It's a book that, in my opinion, failed on two levels. The first, was the story itself. It's supposed to be a creepy story about dangerous and bad happenings in a tiny town. When there are just over 200 people living in one town, everyone is noticed and one teenager going missing is a big deal. So when a second teen goes missing, everyone kind of panics. For Kendall, it's especially devastating, because the second student to go missing is her very best (and really only) friend. But even worse, Kendall has an OCD, so any disruption in her life and her schedule is more extreme that for most people, and she doesn't handle it very well on any level. 

Every few chapters, there was a short, 2-5 paragraph chapter in italics that was supposed to be spooky and creepy, and I imagine it was supposed to scare the readers. It's supposed to read like this haunted, disembodied voice, leaving cryptic clues and messages, to give the reader tiny hints here and there about what was really going on. But rather then being creepy they were boring, and with the exception of what '35 or 100' meant, I had everything pretty well figured out long before the end of the book. These sections with the cryptic voice of doom just tried too hard and just... didn't really work for me. 

But even more than that, the second level I feel the book failed on, I did not like the way Kendall's OCD was portrayed. You might have read my guest post for Danya about how I feel about OCD in YA (read that here) or my much more rant-like post about the topic on my own blog (read that here). If you have, you already have an idea of why this book would anger and frustrate me so much. I'm not an expert on OCD and I don't claim to be, but I do know enough to recognize that this book is not really an accurate portrayal of what a person experiencing an OCD really goes through. 


For one thing, an OCD is much more than just a loop of thought. More often than not, Kendall's OCD is portrayed as an idea getting stuck in her mind that repeats over and over and over. And while that is a part of OCD, it's different in reality than how it's portrayed here. Not all the thoughts that repeat in Kendall's mind are irrational and she is also able to control and regulate them sometimes. Also, she doesn't have a compulsion to get rid of the thoughts or the anxiety they cause. The thoughts don't even really give her anxiety, it's just annoying that she can't always change what she's thinking. Her compulsions are things like checking her locks before bed, and are completely unrelated to her obsessive thoughts. AND, when Kendall is too tired, she forgets to check the lock and just falls asleep (pg 25). THAT IS NOT REALISTIC. A compulsion is not something you 'remember' to do. It is something that you MUST do. If you truly have an OCD, you have to do it. It's an anxiety disorder and just NOT following through on the compulsions leads to serious and intense anxiety; the kind of anxiety that makes it impossible to function. 

Warning- This next part kinda gets a little spoilery, so I've put some of it in white text. Highlight to read:

I felt like McMann exploited a mental illness to give her character an easy out at the end of this book. Kendall finds her self trapped within the haunting and her "OCD brain" picks up one thought and won't let it go. She thinks it over and over, which allows her to break the hold the haunting has on her mind. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT AN OCD IS! An OCD is not a one-track mind that thinks the same thought over and over again. You can read either of my posts for a more detailed explanation, but an OCD is the combination of an Obsession- irrational and uncontrollable thought(s) AND the Compulsion that follows, which is an action taken by the person to overcome the anxiety caused by the thought. The person suffering from the OCD knows the thoughts and subsequent actions are irrational but cannot control them, and it is something that is disruptive to their lives. Kendall does not have that. 

Not only that, but I HATED the way both Kendall and other characters talked about the OCD. There is a scene where Kendall tells her mom that her "OCD is going crazy" (48). WTF. It's just... Not realistic. In any way. And it really bothers me. I'm trying really hard not to let this review turn into a huge rant again, since I already went there, but it really bothers me that people are going to read this book and assume that this is what a person suffering from OCD is like, or that this is what it means to have an OCD. And it's not. More than anything else, Kendall says she has OCD, but honestly, I never really saw thoughts or behaviors that could really be classified as an OCD. I felt like it was the author telling us she had an OCD so that she could use it to justify her ending. 

There were some things about the book that I did like. Jacien was great and I did like the way the relationship between him and Kendall grew and changed. His sister was also a great character and I liked watching Kendall interact when others (as long as she wasn't trying to describe her OCD). I'm still planning to read the Wake Trilogy, but I am highly unlikely to ever read a story of hers again if it has a character with a mental illness. 

Using a mental illness as an easy way out of an otherwise troublesome ending is wrong. It's wrong and does a disservice to both people who have an OCD and to the readers who are now going to walk away with yet another misconception about mental illness. 

Ashley has been fascinated by the mind since before she can remember and decided long before college that Psychology would be her field of study. She received a BS in Psychology and is currently deciding where it should take her next. Ashley would like it to be made clear that she is not an expert in the field, and that the thoughts and feelings expressed are hers derived from both academic and personal study and experience.  

Thanks for providing this detailed and thorough review, Ashley!

Readers — are you familiar with Cryer's Cross? What did you think of the way the OCD was handled?