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Readalikes for Station Eleven

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Ever since I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect readalike for it. I never expected to love it as much as I do. I checked it out on a whim in 2016 because I wanted to read something written for adults, and I had a hankering for science fiction (I had been reading a ton of other genre fiction and needed something different). This was available on audio and read by one of my favorite audiobook narrators, Kirsten Potter, so I checked it out.

I was immediately blown away. I couldn’t stop listening. This book is how I learned that I love literary science fiction, science fiction that has a speculative backdrop but isn’t necessarily about that backdrop. It’s science fiction that’s driven by character and not plot. Teenage me is giving adult me the side eye right now because for sixteen year old Kimberly, plot was king. No swoony romance? No intriguing plot twists? A story focused on relationships? Teenage me: no thank you. Adult me, though? It turns out I can’t get enough.

Since Station Eleven was a big critical success, many books published since then have been compared to it, so finding recommended readalikes isn’t too difficult. Whether they’re actually good readalikes is another story, though, and it depends on what the reader liked about Station Eleven. For me, it was a number of things: the futuristic/post-apocalyptic backdrop that was detailed but not actually the most important thing about the book, the characters whose stories intertwined, the narration from multiple perspectives, the quality of the writing, the quality of the audiobook narration, and a thoughtful pace that is slower than most without being glacial. This was a story I fell into and never wanted to leave.

I’ve read a bunch of books since then (and went back to a couple I read in previous years) that I’d recommend as readalikes based upon these factors. None of them quite match the quality and feel of Station Eleven and the enjoyment I derived from each has varied, but they get close, and they’re worthwhile, fascinating reads. If you, too, are on a quest for thoughtful, literary science fiction, usually about the end of the world, you might enjoy these as well. I’ve also listed a few titles that have been recommended to me by others and are currently on my TBR. My own opinions are on the first list; the Goodreads synopses are on the second.

Books I’ve Read

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

I first read this book in a class in college over ten years ago, and it’s stuck with me. I like it better than The Handmaid’s Tale, which to me at the time I first read it felt hyperbolic and now just feels too real/prescient to be enjoyable. Oryx and Crake is about the end of the world, or at least the end of humanity’s rule of the world, brought on by out of control genetic engineering. It features a man named Snowman, who was called Jimmy before the cataclysm and who might be the last person left alive. The novel alternates between the “present” day (post-cataclysm) and the past (which would read more as our present), showing how the world got to be the way it is as well as Jimmy/Snowman’s role in it and the two lives he led before and after.

Atwood’s science fiction premise is fascinating and detailed. I loved reading about the futuristic society pre-cataclysm, its excesses and technological advances, and how it all fell apart. Equally intriguing was the landscape of the world afterward, which is unique enough that it doesn’t really compare with any other post-apocalyptic novel. And while all of this is intriguing and a big part of why this is my favorite of hers, the book is actually primarily about the relationships between Snowman, his best friend Crake, and the girl they loved called Oryx. This may sound like the setup for a melodrama, but it doesn’t read that way at all. This is a book that continually surprised me when I first read it, and I’m looking forward to a re-read soon.

 

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

When the world comes to an end, astronomer Augustine is in the Arctic conducting research. Dedicated to his work and not wanting to leave it, he declines to follow his fellow researchers back home as they anticipate the cataclysm, wanting to spend the remainder of their time with their families. But he’s not alone there: he finds a little girl, Iris, who has somehow also been left behind. He anticipates a parent will come get her soon, realizing their mistake, but time goes on and no one does.

During the same time frame, astronaut Sully is on a spaceship on a return voyage from Jupiter when communication from Earth suddenly cuts out. For the remainder of the journey, which has several months left, she and the rest of the crew are unable to receive any messages from any human on the planet. After they determine that there is no error or malfunction on their end, they come to the inevitable conclusion: there is no one left alive on Earth.

Brooks-Dalton follows these two characters over the course of the novel, exploring their failed past relationships, their burgeoning new relationships, and what they come to value at the end of the world. Personalities change and priorities shift. What was once so important is now meaningless. Unlike some of the other books on this list, the connection between Sully and Augustine will likely be apparent to most readers early on. But even if it’s not a surprise, the connection is meaningful and moving. Augustine in particular is unpleasant to read about for a lot of the book – he’s selfish, hyperfocused on his career to the detriment of the well-being of others, and relates how he often willingly hurt other people in order to learn how they would react. But Brooks-Dalton adds depth to him over time, and while my feeling toward him near the end wasn’t exactly sympathy, I felt his regret for his various mistakes – both intentional and not – keenly. The final reveal will likely make your heart squeeze painfully too. The two different settings – the cold loneliness of the Arctic and the emptiness of space – are also exceptionally well-realized.

This is the lightest on plot of all the books I recommend in this post. What precisely has wiped out humanity is never explained. It’s barely even alluded to, with a short reference to whispers of war as the only real clue. The book ends before any of the astronauts land back on Earth, deliberately preventing the reader from discovering what happened. I’m not even sure Brooks-Dalton herself knows; it could be anything. For Brooks-Dalton, it really is completely beside the point. Readers of science fiction may be frustrated by just how nearly irrelevant the SF backdrop is here, but for those who crave the literary more than the SF, this is a good pick.

 

The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne

Byrne’s book, set entirely in non-Western countries, features two young women at two different points in the future. Meena is making a forbidden journey across an energy-harvesting Trail in the middle of the Arabian Sea, a road not meant for human travel, and Mariama is journeying across Saharan Africa toward Ethiopia, running from an act of violence she witnessed. Their journeys eventually converge, and like many of the characters in Station Eleven, the ways in which these two women are tied to each other will resonate as well as surprise.

I loved reading about the Trail and how Meena survived on it (it’s not easy). I also loved that this was set entirely in Asia and Africa, two continents I don’t read much about in my fiction. While it’s not a strictly post-apocalyptic novel, Byrne’s near-future world is much more inhospitable than it is now, and there are signs that a cataclysmic turning point may be fast approaching. The story and its setting are imaginative and deep with lots to discuss.

 

The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones

In the near future, the United States has been nearly overrun by Shreve’s Disease, which is carried by ticks that burrow into the skin. Once bitten by a tick, you have thirty seconds to burn it off with a device called a Stamp. After those thirty seconds, they’ve laid their eggs inside your body, and you have about a 50% chance that they will be carriers of the disease, which is fatal. The country has coped by creating something called the Salt Line, which cuts off the majority of the landmass, leaving it to the ticks, while the rest of the country is divided into strictly-regulated zones that are tick-free. Wealthy daredevils who live in the Atlantic Zone will sometimes pay vast sums of money to go on special excursions past the Salt Line, and Jones’ book follows a group of these people. Each person in the group has their own motivations for taking such a risky journey, which takes a very fast turn into even greater danger soon after they cross the Salt Line. This book is a combination dystopia, survival story, and crime novel, and it mostly melds all three together well.

Like Station Eleven, The Salt Line also alternates perspectives between multiple interesting, flawed characters. The apocalyptic backdrop is creative and probably the most different from any other on this list. Also like Station Eleven, it’s interested in the relationships between its characters, which are complex and often surprising. Jones is mostly interested in the relationships between mother and child, and occasionally father and child, as most of the characters’ motivations involve their children or their desire to not have children. She also delves deep into surrogate parent-child bonds. I particularly liked the focus Jones placed on one character’s decision to not have kids. This character’s reasons go beyond the stereotypical and dig into themes of sacrifice and how a person claims ownership of her life. It’s rare to find a book that treats lack of motherhood as an equally fulfilling avenue for its female characters.

 

Version Control by Dexter Palmer

Physicist Philip Steiner has been working on a Causality Violation Device for the past decade. This is really a fancy phrase for time machine, but he hates it when anyone calls it that. A time machine is fiction; the CVD is real. Or it would be, if it worked. He and his assistants are on test number three hundred something and the result is always the same: nothing.

On the surface, Palmer’s novel is about Steiner, his wife Rebecca Wright, Steiner’s lab assistants (also respected scientists), and Rebecca’s best friend Kate. It traces Rebecca and Philip’s meeting and marriage, their respective jobs (Rebecca works for the dating site where she met Philip), their relationships with their friends, and the fallout from Philip’s obsession with the CVD. Like Station Eleven, there are POV shifts at times between all characters, though Version Control focuses mainly on Rebecca (with Philip a close second). The primary relationship explored is the marriage between Philip and Rebecca, which is now falling apart.

But this is science fiction, so that isn’t the whole story. From the beginning, readers will notice small details that are different about the world Rebecca and Philip inhabit. It’s the present-day, but self-driving cars are ubiquitous. The president will pop up on people’s electronic devices every so often, addressing them by name and complimenting them on a particular detail of their dress, for example. It’s…weird. Off-putting. Intriguing. Rebecca has a general feeling that something isn’t quite right, and when others start to feel this too, psychologists put it down to a side effect of the overuse of technology like smartphones. But because this is a science fiction novel, readers will know right away it has something to do with the Causality Violation Device, that folly of Philip’s that has never shown any evidence of actually working.

Palmer’s novel is clever in many ways. It’s divided into three parts, each more intriguing than the last. The finale is elegantly perfect, reasonable in context of the “physics” Palmer has created for his story, and satisfying in a story sense as well. This is the most cleverly plotted of all the readalikes on this list, but it’s still plenty literary, with the focus squarely on the characters and how the extraordinary circumstances they find themselves in change them and their relationships with each other.

 

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

This is the weirdest book on the list, I think. It’s set in the near future when people start losing their shadows, and soon after, their memories. Humanity learns that our shadows are what held our memories, and there’s no way to stop the loss of the latter once the former is gone. But there is a tradeoff: the Shadowless gain the power to physically change the world around them using their quickly fading memories. When a Shadowless forgets a wedding ring, for example, the wedding ring is suddenly no longer there. It can be very dangerous to be around a Shadowless because of this, and as the phenomenon spreads, so too does violence. The two main characters are Ori and Max, a couple who become separated when Max loses her shadow and decides to save Ori the pain of watching her completely lose herself by setting out on her own. Ori goes after her, and the two eventually fall in with different groups of people, unwittingly heading toward the same destination.

The Book of M has a lot of very close parallels to Station Eleven: the end of human society as we know it, multiple POVs, small groups traveling separately that eventually meet up with each other, dual narratives about the characters’ pasts as well as their presents. At the same time, it’s completely different. Unlike St. John Mandel’s story, this is not something that could actually happen. Memories are not tied to people’s shadows, and shadows cannot be lost like we’re in a horror novel version of Peter Pan. It gets a heck of a lot weirder close to the end of the book, too. Readers will need to cultivate a healthy suspension of disbelief to get into Shepherd’s book, but for those who manage to do so, it’s a worthwhile journey. The end is particularly effective, surprising but also inevitable. Through her fantastic premise, Shepherd explores if and how our memories define us – and how the loss of them can change us and the ones we love.

 

Books on My TBR

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

The world as we know it is ending. Evolution has reversed itself, affecting every living creature on earth. Science cannot stop the world from running backwards, as woman after woman gives birth to infants that appear to be primitive species of humans. Twenty-six-year-old Cedar Hawk Songmaker, adopted daughter of a pair of big-hearted, open-minded Minneapolis liberals, is as disturbed and uncertain as the rest of America around her. But for Cedar, this change is profound and deeply personal. She is four months pregnant.

Though she wants to tell the adoptive parents who raised her from infancy, Cedar first feels compelled to find her birth mother, Mary Potts, an Ojibwe living on the reservation, to understand both her and her baby’s origins. As Cedar goes back to her own biological beginnings, society around her begins to disintegrate, fueled by a swelling panic about the end of humanity.

There are rumors of martial law, of Congress confining pregnant women. Of a registry, and rewards for those who turn these wanted women in. Flickering through the chaos are signs of increasing repression: a shaken Cedar witnesses a family wrenched apart when police violently drag a mother from her husband and child in a parking lot. The streets of her neighborhood have been renamed with Bible verses. A stranger answers the phone when she calls her adoptive parents, who have vanished without a trace. It will take all Cedar has to avoid the prying eyes of potential informants and keep her baby safe.

A chilling dystopian novel both provocative and prescient, Future Home of the Living God is a startlingly original work from one of our most acclaimed writers: a moving meditation on female agency, self-determination, biology, and natural rights that speaks to the troubling changes of our time.

 

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. Now his wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley.

But when a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists outside their tightly controlled perimeter. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return and follows its static-broken trail, only to find something that is both better and worse than anything he could ever hope for.

 

The Wanderers by Meg Howrey

In four years Prime Space will put the first humans on Mars. Helen Kane, Yoshi Tanaka, and Sergei Kuznetsov must prove they’re the crew for the job by spending seventeen months in the most realistic simulation every created.

Retired from NASA, Helen had not trained for irrelevance. It is nobody’s fault that the best of her exists in space, but her daughter can’t help placing blame. The MarsNOW mission is Helen’s last chance to return to the only place she’s ever truly felt at home. For Yoshi, it’s an opportunity to prove himself worthy of the wife he has loved absolutely, if not quite rightly. Sergei is willing to spend seventeen months in a tin can if it means travelling to Mars. He will at least be tested past the point of exhaustion, and this is the example he will set for his sons.

As the days turn into months the line between what is real and unreal becomes blurred, and the astronauts learn that the complications of inner space are no less fraught than those of outer space. The Wanderers gets at the desire behind all exploration: the longing for discovery and the great search to understand the human heart.

 

California by Edan Lepucki

A gripping and provocative debut novel by a stunning new talent, California imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind’s dark nature and deep-seated resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love.

The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they’ve left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable in the face of hardship and isolation. Mourning a past they can’t reclaim, they seek solace in each other. But the tentative existence they’ve built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she’s pregnant.

Terrified of the unknown and unsure of their ability to raise a child alone, Cal and Frida set out for the nearest settlement, a guarded and paranoid community with dark secrets. These people can offer them security, but Cal and Frida soon realize this community poses dangers of its own. In this unfamiliar world, where everything and everyone can be perceived as a threat, the couple must quickly decide whom to trust.

 

Severance by Ling Ma

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she’s had her fill of uncertainty. She’s content just to carry on: She goes to work, troubleshoots the teen-targeted Gemstone Bible, watches movies in a Greenpoint basement with her boyfriend.

So Candace barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies halt operations. The subways squeak to a halt. Her bosses enlist her as part of a dwindling skeleton crew with a big end-date payoff. Soon entirely alone, still unfevered, she photographs the eerie, abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost.

Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?

A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines, and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Ling Ma’s Severance is a moving family story, a quirky coming-of-adulthood tale, and a hilarious, deadpan satire. Most important, it’s a heartfelt tribute to the connections that drive us to do more than survive.

 

A YA Reading List For Viewers of TO THE BONE

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YA Books for Fans of TO THE BONE

 

There’s been a bit of controversy surrounding the new film on Netflix To The Bone. The film, starring Lily Collins, is about a 20-year-old who dropped out of college because of the eating disorder controlling her life. Collins reluctantly enters an inpatient facility, and the story centers around the kids in the treatment facility and the work it takes to find a sense of recovery from an eating disorder.

Early on in the film, as well as throughout, we learn that Collins’s character (Ellen/Eli) was an artist who shared her drawings on Tumblr. Her art was part of what could be called “thinspiration,” a trend that’s been huge since the early years of the internet, and her art led to another struggling teenager to choose suicide…and send her last note to Eli. This has a tremendous impact on Eli, as she feels responsible for that death. We also get to see first hand how a family’s dysfunction can impact someone who struggles with their mental health, as much as we get to see the ways an individual’s mental health can rock family relationships.

The film, written by and performed with real people who’ve struggled with eating disorders, begins with a viewer warning. It notes that there will be challenging situations and images depicted, and yet, the film does a great job of imparting the message that art can and does impact people — and sometimes that impact is something you simply cannot control.

A lesson that film creators are learning through the backlash comes right back to their own work. There is a responsibility in creating art, as much as there’s a responsibility in consuming it. It’s an almost perfect instance of life imitating art.

Some of the backlash for To The Bone is unwarranted, though. The film’s description, as well as the warning that displays immediately upon the beginning of it, are enough to tell viewers what to expect and whether or not they should proceed. This falls in line with some of the reviews I’ve read in recent years suggesting that books like Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson need trigger warnings, despite the fact the book’s description is very clear about what the content is. Were the description coy or unforthcoming about the content, that would be a different conversation. Were there a surprise instance of other disturbing topics — rape, abuse, other topics that are often talked about in trigger discussions — then further noting of that content or displeasure about the lack of warning would certainly be fair. But the film is clear in description, Netflix offers a warning, and from thereon, it’s the personal responsibility of consumers to choose whether or not to proceed.

And that, too, is part of the movie’s point.

I’d not recommend watching this if you’re easily bothered by frank images or discussion of eating disorders, of course. Though not perfect, it’s a gritty, powerful look at the way eating disorders are a mental illness that require treatment, thoughtful discussion, and more. It’s the kind of film that teens will gravitate toward because of the content, the name recognition, and the fact it makes for a solid view-alike to 13 Reasons Why: a realistic show that is relatable, as well as featuring characters who aren’t too far outside their own age range.

It’s one I’m really glad I watched as I work my way through edits of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, as so much of what the film depicted comes through in the essays the collection will have about personal struggles with disordered eating.

The messages and takeaways of this film are worth exploring in a book list for YA readers. The books below take on eating disorders, treatment and recovery, as well as touch upon social media and the consequences of using and consuming media. I’ve also included titles about dysfunctional families and the ways that mental illness can impact more than the person struggling with it. The same elements that make To The Bone appealing to young viewers will make these books appealing, too.

Descriptions come from Amazon unless otherwise noted.

 

Allegedly by Tiffany D Jackson Book CoverAllegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.

Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?

 

 

Believarexia by JJ Johnson

Fifteen-year-old Jennifer has to force her family to admit she needs help for her eating disorder. But when her parents sign her into the Samuel Tuke Center, she knows it’s a terrible mistake. The facility’s locked doors, cynical nurses, and punitive rules are a far cry from the peaceful, supportive environment she’d imagined.

In order to be discharged, Jennifer must make her way through the strict treatment program—as well as harrowing accusations, confusing half-truths, and startling insights. She is forced to examine her relationships, both inside and outside the hospital. She must relearn who to trust, and decide for herself what “healthy” really means.

Punctuated by dark humor, gritty realism, and profound moments of self-discovery, Believarexic is a stereotype-defying exploration of belief and human connection.

 

 

Clean by Amy Reed

You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. I’m still wondering the same thing.

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. And they certainly don’t want to share their darkest secrets and most desperate fears with a room of strangers. 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.

 

 

 

The Girls Of No Return by Erin Saldin

Erin Saldin’s The Girls of No Return is a lacerating young adult debut about girls, knives, and redemption. The Alice Marshall School, set within a glorious 2-million acre wilderness area, is a place where teenage girls are sent to escape their histories and themselves. Lida Wallace has tried to negate herself in every way possible. At Alice Marshall, she meets Elsa Boone, Jules, and Gia Longchamps, whose glamour entrances the entire camp. As the girls prepare for a wilderness trek, Lida is both thrilled and terrified to be chosen as Gia’s friend. Everyone has their secrets – the “Things” they try to protect; and when those come out, the knives do as well.

 

 

 

 

Paperweight by Meg Haston

Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert.

Life in the center is regimented and intrusive, a nightmare come true. Nurses and therapists watch Stevie at mealtime, accompany her to the bathroom, and challenge her to eat the foods she’s worked so hard to avoid.

Her dad has signed her up for sixty days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn’t plan to stay that long. There are only twenty-seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh’s death—the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she too will end her life.

 

 

Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Theo is better now.

She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

 

 

 

 

Recovery Road by Blake Nelson

Madeline is sent away to Spring Meadows rehab for drinking and rage. At the weekly movie night in town, she meets Stewart, from another rehab nearby. They fall for each other despite the crazy time. Madeline gets out and starts to regain her feet. But when Stewart joins her, both still are severely troubled, and he is getting worse.

 

 

 

 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys’ school that pretends it’s coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player. The boys are no better, from Thomas, who specializes in musical burping, to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can’t seem to stop thinking about.

Then there’s Francesca’s mother, who always thinks she knows what’s best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling of who she really is. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life and—hardest of all—herself.

 

 

 

Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones

It happens just like that, in the blink of an eye. An older sister has a mental breakdown and has to be hospitalized. A younger sister is left behind to cope with a family torn apart by grief and friends who turn their backs on her. But worst of all is the loss of her big sister, her confidante, her best friend, who has gone someplace no one can reach.

 

 

 

 

 

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

When she is caught in the backseat of a car with her older brother’s best friend—Deanna Lambert’s teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of “school slut,” she longs to escape a life defined by her past. With subtle grace, complicated wisdom and striking emotion, Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capacity for resilience, epiphany and redemption.

 

 

 

 

ThinAndBeautiful.com by Liane Shaw

Seventeen-year-old Maddy has always felt a hole in her life, but she has finally found a way to fill it with her quest to mold her body into her ideal, thinnest shape. When she comes across the world of -pro-ana- websites, where young people encourage each other in their mission to lose ever more weight, she realizes she is no longer alone. Finally, she has found a place where she is understood. Maddy quickly becomes addicted to the support and camaraderie she finds on thinandbeautiful.com. Now in a rehab facility where they are trying to -fix- a problem she doesn’t think she has, Maddy’s diary entries trace how she arrived at this point. Angry that she is barred from accessing her online friends, only the tragic consequences that come to one of her comrades in arms is enough to shock her into admitting that she does need help.

 

 

This Impossible Light by Lily Myers

Fifteen-year-old Ivy’s world is in flux. Her dad has moved out, her mother is withdrawn, her brother is off at college, and her best friend, Anna, has grown distant. Worst of all, Ivy’s body won’t stop expanding. She’s getting taller and curvier, with no end in sight. Even her beloved math class offers no clear solution to the imbalanced equation that has become Ivy’s life.

Everything feels off-kilter until a decision to change the way she eats gives her a boost in confidence and reminds Ivy that her life is her own. If she can just limit what she eats—the way her mother seems to—she can stop herself from growing, focus on the upcoming math competition, and reclaim control of her life. But when her disordered eating gives way to missed opportunities and a devastating health scare, Ivy realizes that she must weigh her mother’s issues against her own, and discover what it means to be a part of—and apart from—her family.

 

 

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton

Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette’s desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

 

 

 

 

A Trick of the Light by Lois Metzger

Mike Welles had everything under control. But that was before. Now things are rough at home, and they’re getting confusing at school. He’s losing his sense of direction, and he feels like he’s a mess. Then there’s a voice in his head. A friend, who’s trying to help him get control again. More than that—the voice can guide him to become faster and stronger than he was before, to rid his life of everything that’s holding him back. To figure out who he is again. If only Mike will listen.

 

 

 

 

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

“Dead girl walking”, the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret”, the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

 

 

 

Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price

Zoe knows she doesn’t belong in a hospital—so why is she in one?
 
Twin Birch isn’t just any hospital. It’s a strange mansion populated by unnerving staff and glassy-eyed patients. It’s a place for girls with serious problems; skinny, spindly girls who have a penchant for harming themselves.

Zoe isn’t like them. And she can’t figure out why she was sent here. Writing letters to her best friend Elise keep her sane, grounded in the memories of her past—but mired in them, too. Elise never writes back.

Zoe is lost without her, unsure of how to navigate tenuous new friendships and bizarre rules without Elise by her side. But as her letters intertwine with journal entries chronicling her mysterious life at Twin Birch, another narrative unfolds. The hidden story of a complicated friendship; of the choices we make, the truths we tell others, and the lies we tell ourselves. The story of a friendship that has the potential to both save—and damage beyond repair. And Zoe finds she must confront the truth about her past once and for all, before she can finally let go.

Guest Post: Molly Wetta on Reader’s Advisory in the Library and Beyond

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Molly Wetta is YA librarian assistant in Kansas who blogs about books, reading, and librarianship at Wrapped Up in Books. Her blog is a treasure trove of reviews and resources, so if you’re not reading it, it’s one to get in your regular reading rotation. You may recognize Molly’s work or name from some of the amazing graphic-driven reader’s advisory resources that have floated around social media, and I’m thrilled she’s here today to talk about what she does, how she does it, and how you can do it, too, whether you’re a librarian or not. I am a huge fan of it and want to model a lot of these ideas in my own RA work because they’re so great. 


To be honest, the first time someone complimented my “RA skills” I didn’t even know what she meant. Talking to people about books is something that came naturally to me. At the time, I had no formal training. I still feel like I am far from an expert on the topic, but it’s a subject I’m passionate about, so when Kelly asked me to contribute a post on my approach to reader’s advisory, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share my perspective and learn from other’s ideas.



I didn’t take my first library job because I wanted to be a librarian.  I was looking for a part-time position that wouldn’t be too stressful while I got my master’s degree in social work. I envisioned a career in outreach, advocacy, or organizing on behalf of the welfare of women and children.



It just so happened that when I began my search, a position opened up in the young adult section of my local library. I thought it would be fun so I went ahead and applied, even though my only experience working in a library was as a research assistant. I did have experience working with teens, as a high school debate coach and at a group home for children in the state’s care, but I’m pretty sure the reason I got my position was because of my answer to one particular interview question.



That question was, “What would you recommend to a teen looking for a book ‘like The Hunger Games?’” The film based on the popular series was in production, and it had more holds than any other book in the library. In my response, I discussed why recently released Legend by Marie Lu would be a hit with Hunger Games fans. Rather than any formal education, it was my personal reading and experience discussing books with other enthusiastic readers provided me with the foundation of knowledge to be able to answer that interview question.


Reader’s advisory is one of the most important services libraries provide, which is why I think my answer to that particular question weighed as heavily during the interview as my experience with the organization of information in my finance job and my past work with teens. In surveys, patrons continually rate help “finding their next book” as one of the top reasons they use their library. In fact, at least in the young adult section, I get far more requests for helping finding fiction books for pleasure reading than other types of reference inquiries.



Talking to people about books and understanding why people are attracted to the books they love wasn’t a skill set I consciously tried to develop, but there are three factors that I think help me connect readers with the right books: my reading habits, my approach to an in-person RA interview, and my graphic and social philosophy with regards to passive reader’s advisory.



READING HABITS



If you want to get better at reader’s advisory, there’s no way around it: you have to read. And read widely, which most likely means outside your comfort zone and personal interests. Reading reviews and using tools like NoveList and subject headings are great, but I know I’m best able to hand sell a particular title if I’ve actually read it (even if I didn’t personally like it). There’s certain insight that can only be gained from reading a book.



I’m lucky enough to be interested in a wide variety of styles and genres. I love novels by Portuguese novelist José Saramago, who won the Nobel prize in Literature, as much as I love the campy, supernatural mystery series by Charlaine Harris about a telepathic waitress. YA epic fantasy has as much appeal for me as gritty, realistic teen novels, horror, or paranormal romance. I’ve always had eclectic taste.



But my reading habits did change when I started working in a library and reading became essential to my job and not just a personal hobby. I used to read purely for my own pleasure, but now I’m willing to read just about anything. Even if a book is not my personal cup of tea (I prefer coffee), I can usually envision the type of reader who would enjoy it.



Now that I work in a library, I’m conscious about reading a diverse selection across all categories and genres as well balancing new and forthcoming releases with backlists titles. I’ve tried new formats like graphic novels and audiobooks in order to be able to better advise patrons. I keep track of what I read, I take notes about what I read, and I review most of the titles I read. An organized and deliberate approach to my personal reading definitely helps me in my job, even if isn’t a requirement. Writing about what I’ve read helps me remember details and gives me resources to refer back to if my memory is fuzzy.



While most librarians enter the profession because they are at least somewhat passionate about reading, a love of books is not all you need to be able to offer personal suggestions that work for patrons. It’s how you use and apply that knowledge that makes the difference between good reader’s advisory and great reader’s advisory.



READER’S ADVISORY INTERVIEWS



You know what has informed my reader’s advisory style more than any MLIS class? My part-time job my senior year of high school and freshman year of college working at Hot Topic. While the appeal of the job for me at the time was free concert tickets and a discount on band t-shirts, it taught me more than I anticipated about interacting with consumers. Reader’s advisory isn’t that different than retail sales: instead of helping people find the right band t-shirts and costume jewelry that promotes their desired aesthetic, I now help readers find the right “style’ of book. Customer service experience is important for working in the library. If you’re not adept at interacting with people, front line service in a library is not going to be a fun career for you.



Though I do sometimes help adult patrons find books they want, YA or otherwise, most of my interaction is with teen patrons. I think I’m particularly good at talking with this age group because I genuinely like teens. I respect their opinions and enjoy how passionate they can be about what they love. It’s important to make them feel comfortable discussing their interests and let them know that I’ll never judge them for their taste.
It’s easy to recommend books to people who have similar taste to your own, but reader’s advisory isn’t about you—it’s about helping a patron find a book they will like. I suggest titles with a disclaimer and tell them I’ll in no way be offended if they don’t check out the book or if they do and decide they don’t like it. I listen to what they actually want rather than telling them what I think they should want.



I think it’s also important to throw preconceived notions about what someone will like out the window. Too often, they’re wrong. That 6 foot tall, 220 pound 17 year-old linebacker might lover reading historical romance, and the girl who won’t let go of her boyfriend’s hand might be more into sci-fi with robots than contemporary romance.



The first layer of reader’s advisory is finding a book that is “about” what the reader is interested in or in the mood for, but you’re more likely to find a good match if you look beyond subject matter to appeal terms. Anyone can make a list of zombie books. Finding the right zombie book(s) for someone requires a more nuanced approach. Is the reader looking for a funny zombie book, or a dark gothic horror? Something campy or something thought-provoking? It makes a difference.



Often, more casual readers (and especially teenagers) are most likely not going to articulate what they want in their next read in the kind of terms that librarians or especially bookish people use to describe the style and tone of a novel. A teen is probably not going to approach the reference desk and ask for a “fast-paced and satirical character-driven zombie suspense story” But she might confess that she really like The Walking Dead and might read a book that was kinda like it. Which means that knowing about other types of media can improve your reader’s advisory. Asking about more than just their reading preferences and thinking in terms of what other kind of entertainment they enjoy can also help you get a feel for what type of stories appeal to them.



As happy as I am when a patron settles on a book, for me, the most important part of a reader’s advisory interview is the part that comes after they’ve selected a book. I always invite people to come back and tell me what they thought of the book I helped them find, and make it clear that not only am I genuinely interested, but that hearing feedback helps me connect other readers with books they will like. There’s no way I can read every book out there, and my reaction will always be unique to me and won’t predict another reader’s response. Especially with teens, I think this helps build a rapport with a reader so they know that even if they hated the book, I want to know and care about their opinion.



I know a lot of people I work with get nervous about reader’s advisory. They don’t want to steer the patron in the wrong direction or doubt their own knowledge or are nervous explaining what a book is about. Which I get. I mean, I’ve gotten more than a few “what in the hell are you talking about” looks when trying to articulate what a book is about. Certain titles are easily summed up in quippy one-liners, and the booktalk is easy. Others can be hard to sell despite their awesomeness. (Lots of teens have been skeptical of my suggestion of The Scorpio Races, for instance. Apparently the idea of “killer water horses” freaks some people out, so if anyone has great line to sell that amazing book, I’m all ears).



The point is, not every reader’s advisory interaction is a home run. Sometimes a reader is fickle and doesn’t even know what they are looking for, or sometimes the perfect book is checked out. Sometimes you are just having an off day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of the perfect book half an hour after the patron has walked away, or was just having one of those days where everything I say comes out awkward and wrong. It happens. Don’t dwell on the mistakes. Learn from them. And be sure to celebrate the victories where you renew someone’s interest in reading by connecting them with the perfect book for them rather than dwell on those patrons that you don’t feel like you’ve completely satisfied.



GET GRAPHIC AND SOCIAL WITH PASSIVE READER’S ADVISORY



As important as in-person reader’s advisory conversations are, you don’t have the opportunity to have an discussion with every patron, and not everyone wants that kind of help, which is why passive reader’s advisory is just as important. There are tons of ways to assist these kind of patrons through lists and displays in both physical and digital spaces. I have a lot of success with passive reader’s advisory in the form of simple graphics and more involved flowcharts.



I’m a tried and true book person. I thrive on the words, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good infographic. A small amount of text paired with images can often convey information in a more accessible way that appeals to people who process information in a visually.



I make RA graphics in a variety of formats, but the two that seem to be the most effective are flowcharts and what I call “like—try—why” sheets.



Remember how I got my library job because I of my answer to “What book would you suggest to a patron looking for something “like The Hunger Games”? I started thinking seriously about changing career paths and pursuing a master’s in library science about the time I made this “So you loved The Hunger Games…What should you read next?” flowchart.



It was true—just as The Hunger Games hit theaters, every kid was going crazy for the series and wanting to get their hands on the next post-apocalyptic action adventure book with a hint of dystopia thrown in. And as I kept being frustrated by having nothing to offer them besides a spot on the hold list for the hottest titles, or not being able to put the right read-alike in their hands because The Hunger Games had so many different appeal factors it was hard to tease out what exactly excited a reader about it.



So after lots of conversations with colleagues and patrons and readers about why they liked The Hunger Games, I brainstormed a bunch of subject headings that might help me locate books with similar themes. I looked for books with the immediate, first person narration and the strong female protagonist. I thought it was a perfect way to entice readers to check out some of the books on the college-bound lists that are classic dystopian.



But having a huge list of titles was overwhelming, so I set about organizing them. Then, it was just about pulling together some covers, brief labels, and arrows to guide readers through to the perfect Hunger Games read-alike for them. In addition to being a resource for staff, it also mimics the in-person reader’s advisory interview by asking the patron questions and leading them to books they might enjoy.



I’ve made other flowcharts to fulfill specific needs, such as the regular inquiry for “funny” books, or to promote a particular event at the library, such as our Teen Read Week activities or our Read Across Lawrence one book, one community events. In other instances, I’ve made simple lists that identify the appeal terms, such as a list of books for fans of Doctor Who or road trip books.



I fell in love with the concept of “If you like…try…and here’s why” format of reader’s advisory graphics when I first saw them on EpicReads (the HarperTeen online community). I really liked the vertical columns and the short explanations of why a fan of a particular book might like a certain title, and I started making similar graphics to display in the Teen Zone at the library and to share on our blog and other social media. For these, I try and stick to a common genre or theme so that someone might be intrigued by one title and consider all those mentioned. I try to pair titles that are circulating well in my library with new releases or forgotten favorites.



For the like—try—why graphics, I often have regular patrons help make them and write the one sentence blurbs. It’s a great way for teens to take ownership of their space, to share their own recommendations, and for me to learn about why Real Actual Teens like certain books and relate them to each other, which is often surprising.



Reader’s advisory graphics are worth the time and effort because they have a dual purpose. They are great to display within the library, but they also share well on social media. At my library, we have a binder with tabs that separate lists, flowcharts, and graphics by genre, subject, and appeal. Readers can flip through on their own if they want to browse, and staff also consult it regularly. It’s easy to switch out like—try—why graphics from a plexi stand or a bulletin board each week based on what books are available, but they also share well on Tumblr, Facebook, or in a blog post, where graphics are going to catch reader’s attention in a way a text based list won’t.



Believe me, you don’t need any special graphic design skills to be able to create interesting and helpful graphics to promote books in your library. I’ve adapted a presentation I’ve give at library conferences into a blog post that goes into much more detail about my process for making graphics and various examples and resources that are useful if you’re thinking about creating your own, which you can find here.
Reader’s advisory is my favorite part of my job. I love geeking out with devoted readers over the books we both love as well as listening to them passionately defend a book that didn’t work for me or rail on how they hated a book I love. I’m interested in reader’s reactions because I’m fascinated by what attracts readers to books and why they feel the way they do about them. There’s something magical and mysterious about reader’s advisory; it’s far from an exact science. I love being able to match a high school student who hates to read but has to do a book report with a title he or she will actually read (and maybe even enjoy!) as much as I love to be able to discuss the latest releases with the teens that read everything. I love being able to surprise an adult who thinks YA is for kids with the depth and complexity of the stories being shelved in the YA section. Reader’s advisory is important to me because I truly believe that finding the right book at the right time can not only change, but save people’s lives.

Display This: War’s a Hard Road to Travel

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This week, we celebrate Veteran’s Day in the U.S., and what better way to remind teens that what may seem quite removed from them is, in fact, a reality of their lives than with a display of teen fiction about other young people serving or affected by war in some manner. These books focus on contemporary war and the issues therein.

If you have suggestions of other similar titles, share them in the comments and I’ll add them to the display. I am eager for your input on this one because I believe there is a real dearth in this direction, and there is essentially nothing told on contemporary war set abroad or from the foreign perspective. There is also nothing, to my knowledge, featuring a female in the battlefield. I’m not looking for memoirs akin to A Long Way Gone, which are, in my mind, a separate genre all together. Lend me your brains!

Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson: A memoir of a 19-year-old solider, who made the decision to enter the military after watching the destruction in the wake of 9/11. A take on the reality of serving today, and it’s told through the eyes of a young person to young people.

Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhart: When Levi’s brother Boaz returns from a war in a far away country, he is not the same person he was before. This story explores survivor’s guilt and the return to home life for a solider, as well as the adjustments a family makes in the aftermath.

Gigged by Heath Gibson: ROTC cadet J.T. is determined to follow in the footsteps of his father who fought in the Gulf War, but will his living situation and those around him make this dream a reality or unreachable?

Back Home by Julia Keller: Rachel’s dad is back from the war, but he is far from the man she knew before he went. This story is a deeply touching look at post traumatic stress disorder from the perspective of the daughter, and it’s one that in my book talks the kids have been drawn to.

Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers: Although Robin’s parents hope he chooses to go to college, his heart is on joining the military. When his unit is deployed, Robin may have to learn to trust people more readily than he’s willing to.

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick: Matt wakes up in an Army hospital with a Purple Heart pinned to his shirt and the memories of a young Iraqi boy and the weight of guilt may make the honor meaningless to him.

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry: 11-year-old Brother has to take responsibilities of ranching and livestock at his Oregon home when his father and brother are called to war. This middle grade novel explores faith, war, and the challenges of being the child of a military family.

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins: While this story takes place in Burma during one of their wars, including it in a display will heighten the reality of war and military service to today’s teens in America. This is what happens when youth don’t have the opportunities to option out of service.

A Dying Cause

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Suicide is a morbidly (oops) fascinating topic for people — it’s something that we simply don’t understand and it’s something that affects everyone surrounding the people who do decide to go through with it. About 5,000 teenagers do it each year, and it is the second leading cause of death for those between the ages of 14 and 25 — Livestrong can give you more terrifying statistics if you’re interested. Many teens have been impacted by it somehow, so it’s not a surprise that it’s been making an appearance throughout teen literature in the last couple of years (and even before that).

2009 brought at least two such titles, including Nina LaCour’s Hold Still (Dutton, 10/2009). Caitlin’s best friend Ingrid killed herself at the end of last school year; for Caitlin, this was a summer to mourn before needing to step back into a routine at school that would now have a huge void.

Throughout the story, Ingrid’s diary is a device for communicating her thoughts with Caitlin. Ingrid left no note nor explanation but instead shared her feelings on other life experiences. As a reader you can pick up the pieces little by little, but you will not walk away with a solid understanding. Instead, the story is told from Caitlin’s point of view — her mourning and her attempts at resuming her own life.

As the year progresses, as indicated by changing seasons in the book (starting with the summer after, then fall, winter, and spring), Caitlin begins to experience the things like a normal teenager again. She develops a friendship with a new girl that as readers we understand begins tenuously out of fear of loss, and she also begins exploring a romantic relationship. But all is not well, of course. Caitlin’s grades are slipping, particularly in a photography class that where she had met Ingrid before. The teacher constantly talks about how her and Ingrid were a pair but that Caitlin needs to grow her own talent and self now. This is hard when Ingrid’s work is immortalized on the walls, of course.

Hold Still is an interesting exploration of suicide from a best friend’s perspective, but I’m going to be honest and say it felt inauthentic. I’m no expert in understanding how suicide feels from a best friend’s perspective, but I can say that I’ve been in high school when a very popular student took his life. There was not an immortalizing of the student, and in fact, faculty was upfront and honest in avoiding the issue. There was no memorial nor fascination with them. While friends had the opportunity to mourn and seek counseling, the issue was something the school felt was not appropriate to “celebrate.” Likewise, it seemed to me that no one in the story was angry. It seemed that the characters actually felt only one or two emotions, and there was not much wrestling with feelings. Caitlin had one angry outburst, but perhaps what left me a little unsure was Ingrid’s parents at the end of the story — they were almost too accepting and, frankly, blase about their daughter’s selfishness and desperation.

Personally, this book was a mixed bag. It didn’t delve deeply enough into character, as Caitlin to me seemed hollow. Although I believe this is the case because of her situation, I felt in discussions of her prior to Ingrid’s suicide that she still didn’t have any interests, passions, or feelings. The diary was a bit too much of a safety device in the story that took us away from the graveness of the situation and instead gave Ingrid a voice and personality. This made it too hard to be angry or frustrated with her, since she seemed so sincere. Too many times I believed that Ingrid was rational enough to get help, and though I know it’s not that simple, I just didn’t feel a connection between her and me or her and Caitlin. Likewise, her parents and the art teacher really made me insane. To me it seemed the adults were written too much as teenagers. And as alluded to before, many of the situations about how the school reacted just weren’t realistic from my experiences. A little research would have really made this book that much stronger.

That said, Hold Still will resonate with teen readers. As an adult who can reflect back on my experiences, I felt it fell flat of some real potential. But with the number of teens who probably live Caitlin’s story, this will be a comforting book to read. The lack of anger or discussion of Ingrid’s mental state and actions was frustrating, but perhaps this side of emotion will really impact someone. It can also be a potential wake up call to those ever considering this plan of exit. I’m excited to see what LaCour does next, as this was her first novel.

Five Minutes More by Darlene Ryan was also released this year (Orca Books, 04/09). If you know anything about the Orca series, it’s a publisher interested in fast-moving stories that target reluctant readers. This one was a quick mover.

D’Arcy’s dad has killed himself. He used to always say that anything could be solved by just “five minutes more,” a mantra that gets repeated throughout the book. But as we discover, D’Arcy’s dad could not live with Lou Gehrig’s disease for five minutes more and instead, chose to drive his car off a bridge and end his life.

Told through seasons, much like Hold Still, we see D’Arcy become a figure who removes herself from her life. Her budding relationship with Seth waxes and wanes, her grades drop dramatically, and she begins getting involved with drinking and smoking — something she’d never do if it weren’t for her father’s death.

Unlike Hold Still, as a reader we feel entirely distanced from D’Arcy and her relationships in Five Minutes More. To be entirely honest, I don’t remember much emotional discussion from D’Arcy; her feelings were acted upon and out for the reader. She broke many items in a way that felt quite authentic with her anger, but it seemed to me this was a strategy used a bit too much to give readers insight into her mind. For me, I wasn’t able to stand the thought of her breaking anything else, but thinking in context of the audience for this title (and this author), I think this is a story that reluctant readers will appreciate since there is NOT a lot of dwelling on emotions. Things happen instead.

Again, I’m not an expert on this topic, but this title also felt inauthentic to me as a reader. The voices were not quite there enough, and none of the characters seemed to be talking like people of their own age/experience. But then again, I’m not a teenager and thus cannot believe that there won’t be many who really see themselves in D’Arcy. What I did appreciate about this title was that it took a risk — it’s NOT just teenagers who take their lives. Ryan chose to have her adult character take his life and take it for a very different reason than a teenager: disease. I felt compelled to keep reading, though I was disappointed in an abrupt ending without any sort of closure. I’m sure this is intentional. I felt, though, her romantic relationship did not develop enough over the course of three seasons to make it an essential element of the story. I wondered what purpose it served since it didn’t have enough power in the story to even be brought up at the end.

I liked D’Arcy as a character a little more than I liked Caitlin, perhaps because D’Arcy felt like a real character, more fleshed out than Caitlin. I also actually liked D’Arcy’s dad in this one; by that I mean, I really wanted to know more about him and his challenges with Lou Gehrig’s disease. I did not feel that way about Ingrid.

Finally, what book discussion about suicide would be complete without at least making a mention of Jay Asher’s unbelievably popular title Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill, 10/07).

Like Hold Still, this book is held together with a plot device, namely a set tapes that Clay Jensen receives following the suicide of classmate Hannah Baker. He’s one of thirteen people to get this set of tapes that describes exactly what things people did or said that pushed Hannah over the edge. The story’s told through Hannah’s voice on the tape and Clay’s voice as he visits all of the people and places that impacted Hannah.

What Thirteen Reasons Why does that neither Hold Still nor Five Minutes More do is emphasize the impact that small things can have on a person. More generally, I felt like Hannah’s voice brought out the point that there are so many things that go into people’s decisions to take their lives. It’s not a simple thing or two but generally the accumulation of many issues. It’s not simple and it can’t be understood.

It’s been over a year since I read this one, so I had to pull up my review to see what I said initially, which was simple: well-crafted, insightful, consistent, and gripping.

All of this is to say that the teen fiction genre is full of titles that tackle this very complicated issue and each title takes the issue in a slightly different way. As such, there is going to be a title that resonates with a reader who will tackle the grief and lack of understanding that comes along with suicide in a way similar to one of these — or the other titles in this area. Although the word bibliotherapy bothers me, I believe these are the sorts of books we should know as tools for helping those struggling with the issue of suicide, both from the perspective of the person who is considering taking their life and the people who have been impacted by such a loss.

We will never truly know what is going on nor why things like this happens, but we can explore it as deeply and widely as possible to have a support system. Besides people, books are support; when you consider that each of these characters withdraws into themselves, then you know that a book can be a companion during those times of isolation.

Have you read any other similar titles or any of these? What are your takes on them? It’s a fascinating topic that deserves exploration, and kudos to each and every one of these authors for doing it the best they can.