I Know This Much is True

Title: I Know This Much Is True
Author: Wally Lamb
ISBN: 0-06-098756--1
Recommended Grade Level of Reader: Adult Crossover (Acceptable Content for 11th and Up)
Publisher: ReganBooks
Media Type: Book
Copyright:  1998   
Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  With a schizophrenic twin brother and a failed marriage, life couldn't get too much worse for Dominick... or could it? 

Plot Summary:  I Know This Much is True details events in the life of the main character, Dominick Birdsey.  Told from Dominick's point-of-view, the story revolves around Dominick's adult life with flashbacks to his childhood.  Dominick has a schizophrenic twin brother who has gone in and out of mental hospitals.  The reader sees Dominick struggle with loving and taking care of his brother, but at the same time resenting him.  Dominick also struggles with his failed marriage to Dessa and his relationship with his stepfather.  The main plot is concerned with Thomas, Dominick's brother, and Thomas's shocking surprise.       

Evaluation: (A+)  It is evident why this is a number one New York Times Bestseller.  Lamb develops the characters so well that the reader will feel as if he or she knows Dominick, Thomas, and many of the other characters.  The plot is realistic and the text is rich with pertinent information on schizophrenia.  Lamb even provides a list of sources consulted which reinforces why the plot and characters are convincing.  While readers might be hesitant to pick this novel up due to its enormous size (897 pages), every page is filled with emotion, suspense, and heartbreak which will make it difficult to set this book down.  

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• Discussion Questions

Skinny

Title: Skinny

Author: Ibi Kaslik

ISBN: 978-0-8027-9738-4

Recommended Grade Level of Reader:  9th and Up

Publisher: Walker and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2004

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation: A struggle to be thin. A story of family, perfection and dysfunction told from two different points-of-view.

Plot Summary:  Skinny tells the story of two sisters, Giselle and Holly.  Giselle, a former medical student, has been battling anorexia.  Holly, a high school athlete, has been struggling to deal with her older sister’s disease.  Being a top student and a perfectionist, Giselle has to discontinue her medical studies in order to deal with the disease that consumes her.  As such, she has to move back home with her mother and Holly.  Slowly, Giselle begins to uncover the reasons that led to her self-destruction.  Told from the point-of view of each sister, this novel documents the affect an eating disorder has not only on one individual, but also those that surround him or her. 

Evaluation:  (B)  While the idea of how one’s struggle with anorexia affects more than just the victim is interesting, Ibi Kaslik had difficulty setting up the story.  Skinny was not engaging in the beginning which made for a boring read.  A disconnect may have occurred as a result of the story being told from two people’s points-of-views.  The novel bounced around too much for the reader to become attached to or get to know either character in the first half of the book.  The author could have shown more character depth by telling the story from one character’s perspective instead of two.  Giselle’s story could have been told effectively through her point-of-view or by Holly a la Julie Anne Peters’ Regan in Luna.          

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• Physical and Mental Diseases and Disabilities
• Body Image and Eating Disorders

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

ISBN: 978-0-316-01369-7

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 7th to 10th

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2009

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation:  Arnold has a lot of cards stacked against him, but through his drawings and experiences on and off of the rez he develops a sense of self-awareness that is profound and heartwarming.  

Plot Summary: Told through the eyes of a teenage male protagonist, this book follows the everyday life of Arnold Spirit on an Indian reservation in Washington State. Arnold deals with mature issues such as death, alcoholism, and his own disability throughout the course of the narrative. He also faces the normal trials and tribulations of American teenagers including changing schools and feeling like an outcast.  Despite the issues at hand, Arnold retains a sense of humor that is both appealing and comforting to the reader.

Evaluation:  (A+)  Arnold’s story is told through writing as well as unique illustration. The author supplements Arnold’s tale by including Arnold’s pencil drawings which helps to deliver the story and is effective in developing the main character.  With the pencil drawings, one can more clearly see Arnold's perceptions of his surroundings.  Additionally, the humor interjected into the novel will make this book difficult to put down. 

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• YALSA History and Cultures Booklist

The Bell Jar

Title: The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath

ISBN: 978-0-061-14851-4

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 9th and Up

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Media Type: Book

Copyright: 1963

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation: Internships, careers, motherhood? Sometimes life can be a little overwhelming.

Plot Summary: The Bell Jar, a classic fictional novel supposedly based on the author’s life, is set on the East Coast during the 1950s. Esther, the female protagonist, is a college student on break for the summer. She beings a writing internship at a magazine in New York. Unconfident about her skills and conflicted about having a career or pursuing something more in line with traditional female gender roles like motherhood, Esther shows signs of depression. A month later, Esther returns to Boston to stay the rest of the summer with her mother and becomes even more depressed. She attempts committing suicide and ends up in the psychiatric ward of a hospital. Events unfold during her lengthy stay in the hospital which is the focus of the remainder of the novel.

Evaluation: (A) This is a great story because it is incredibly realistic. While The Bell Jar may appear to be outdated, it includes themes that teenagers today will be able to relate to. Esther has feelings of insecurity and this insecurity consumes her thoughts at many points throughout the novel. Many young adults will be able to identify with her anxiety as high school aged students are at the prime years to be questioning one’s identity and talents. Similarly, Esther struggles with pursuing a writing career and being a mom or entering a feminized profession. While this issue was prevalent during the feminine revolution, teenagers today still debate the path that they should be taking. The Bell Jar would make a great addition to a young adult book list concerning mental illness, social issues, or classic novels.

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• Physical and Mental Diseases and Disabilities

The Catcher in the Rye

Title: The Catcher in the Rye

Author: J.D. Salinger

ISBN: 0-316-76948-7

Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 10th to 12th

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  1945

Genre: Fiction

Reader's Annotation: The world is full of phonies.

Plot Summary: Written from the perspective of the male protagonist, The Catcher in the Rye, is a classic novel documenting a couple of days in the life of the main character, Holden Caulfield. At the outset, the readers learn that Holden was expelled from his prep school due to reasons Holden explains as, “flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all,” (p. 4). His poor attitude is indicative of his outlook in the rest of the novel which recounts the days just after his expulsion. If readers do not glean from Holden’s depressive and disillusioned thoughts that he experiences metal instability, atypical from that of a normal teenager, it is reveled when he acknowledges meeting with a psychoanalyst towards the end of the book.

Evaluation:  (A)  The reader may not have much experience with characters like Holden Caulfield.  This is the appeal in Catcher in the Rye, however.  Holden is such a unique, well developed character that one will want to closely follow his story.  Salinger does an effective job at maintaining Holden’s depressed, reclusive state from the first page to the last.  Throughout the novel, the reader will glean that Holden is a slightly abnormal, perhaps mentally ill, teenager.  Holden’s lonely existence provides for a story that is almost heartbreaking.  

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• Holden Caulfields for the New Age

The Glass Castle

Title: The Glass Castle

Author: Jeannette Walls

ISBN: 978-0-7432-4754-2

Recommended Grade Level of User:  9th and Up

Publisher: Scribner

Media Type: Book

Copyright:  2005

Genre:  Memoir

Reader's Annotation:  With non-conformist parents, Jeannette and her siblings are forced to raise themselves.  Through it all, the family manages to maintain a strong bond and fierce loyalty showing that there is always a light at the end of every tunnel.

Plot Summary:  The Glass Castle is a memoir of an award winning writer and journalist. Walls' story begins as a young girl and follows her life with a particular focus on her childhood. Her father, an alcoholic, and her mother, a free spirit, lack serious parenting skills or, at the very least, a desire to parent.  Walls and her parents along with her three siblings move from Phoenix to California and then to West Virginia throughout the course of the book.  Each move brings new hardships and experiences.  All the while, the children maintain a close bond and enjoy each others' company which helps to explain the absence of pity or sorrow from Walls' writing.  

Evaluation:  (A+)  The author takes a story that is serious and finds humor in it.  For example, one might argues that toddlers should not be cooking hot dogs at the stove by themselves, but somehow this scenario works with Walls' narration.  Additionally, the author effectively portrays the love within her family despite the hardships she and her siblings faced.  Furthermore, Walls does not villanize her parents for their neglect and life choices, which may be surprising for some, and this further reinforces the love and loyalty within the family.           

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• YALSA Social Sciences Booklist
• My Life: Memoirs for Teens
• Discussion Questions