INSIDE OUT by Terry Trueman

Zach was misunderstood. He was attacked by many voices in his head, he had schizophrenia. Zach was just waiting in the coffee shop like he does everyday for his Mom to meet him and give him his medicine. But today was different, 2 robbers came in and had Zach and everyone at the coffee shop hostage. Alan and Joey (the robbers, also called Frosty and Stormy) don't want to hurt anyone but Zach, who's going through problems without his medication is losing time. The situation at the coffee shop gets worse, and cops and tanks arrive. Zach says he really needs his medicine and tells Alan and Joey that Dr. Curt helps him. Joey and Alan are trying to steal this money to pay for their Mom's hospital bills since she has cancer. They come up with a plan to have Dr. Curt come and read the agreement the police made with Alan and Joey. All goes well and they give up the hostages but Zach volunteers to stay behind until Dr. Curt arrives. They realize there is a back door and try to escape but it ends up failing and causes Alan to get shot. Dr. Curt arrives and they give up. Alan and Joey now face 9 months in Juvy and 2 years probation and Zach ended up committing suicide.

I learned how schizophrenia messes up your brain & effects your life.

I found the ending to be a let down, I didn't want Zach to die.

Recommended for grades 11-12.

KH in Greenville.

EIGHT STORIES UP by Lezine A. DeQuincy, with David Brent.

Eight Stories Up is about DeQuiney Lezine, who as a teen thought the only way to escape his pain was to commit suicide. DeQuiney struggled during and childhood with feelings of hopelessness. As he went through college he fought with the urge to kill himself, eventually leading him to attempt suicide. He tried laying across train tracks, wandering around bad streets at night and finally he decided he'd jump. He was going to throw himself off a building ending his life right there. So than he began to write his friends his goodbyes. What he didn't know was that they kept him chatting until the 2 police officers and counselors showed up, saving his life. This book talks all about suicide, giving hope to people who may think they're alone , or who are asking questions about suicide. This book gives you the facts like how many think about suicide (1 in 10 people), how many act on suicide, what qualifies as suicide, how many die by suicide (4.599 ages 10-24 in 2004) etc. This book contains everything you should know about suicide, knowing that you're not alone, and how to tell if someone is suicidal. This book lets you know there is hope and there is recovery as shown by Lezine's story.

I learned so much, what the warning signs of suicide are, what qualifies as a suicide attempt, how many die and how to overcome these feelings and more. This book is a life saver for anyone who is suicidal or contemplating suicide.

Absolutely recommend! This book is an extremely helpful tool and I recommend everyone reads this so they know how to help and what to look for.

Recommended for grades 9-12 and adults.

KH in Greenville

WHERE I WANT TO BE by Adele Griffin

Jane and Lily were sisters. Jane was the big sister and Lily was the littler sister. Jane taught Lily how to play make believe. Jane, who had an extraordinary imagination, would create games her sister Lily would love. But than Lily wanted to stop playing make believe and grow up, she began making friends and even got her 1st boyfriend. But Jane got stuck and wanted to hold on in her make believe world forever. But than their family realizes that Jane is actually mentally ill and is put on anti-psychotic medicine. Jane realizes she'll never be normal like her younger sister Lily. But than an accident happens killing Jane, and the story continues. But now it's being told from Jane's prospective who is now dead, and also Lily's prospective who is still alive. After Jane dies she decides to return to her favorite place, which is her grandparent's home and makes it so she seems still alive. Lily, now coming to terms with her sister's death and mental illness, also must face the fact that her boyfriend has graduated high school and she must return without him.

I gained that you should just live your life to the fullest and live in the present.

Great book although at first it was confusing switching back and for between alive Lily and dead Jane, but than finally I got it.

Recommended for all teens.

KH in Greenville

LOCK AND KEY by Sarah Dessen

Her mother abandoned her. She hasn't seen her father since she was a small girl. She is stuck between her old world of lies and poverty and the new one of questions and unfamiliarity. She can't rely on trusting her old or new friends, her troubled mother, or her loving sister and brother-in-law. Not even charming, sweet Nate Cross who lives behind her elaborate new home. Her hand falls to her old house's, the yellow house's, battered key, which she has strung on its delicate chain as a necklace -her sole comfort in her life of building a new Ruby Cooper.

The book contained a wide range of topics including and focusing on friendship, relationships, abandonment, and discovering oneself as a teen. It familiarized me with these topics and enforced powerful messages throughout the book.

Although about three-quarters through it the book got more engrossing, this book was very slow going and didn't have many strong conflicts - I wasn't exactly sure where it was going until the last few chapters. In some places, the book's messages were a little confusing and unclear, although overall they were powerful and the most beautiful part of the book. All in all, it was an okay book.

Recommended for grades 11-12.


SA in Greenville

MY ANXIOUS MIND: A TEEN'S GUIDE TO MANAGING ANXIETY AND PANIC by Michael A. Tompkins and and Katherine A. Martinez

How do you know when anxiety is a problem? What is anxiety? If your feeling anxious or may be worried that anxiety is taking over your life, this book is right for you. This book covers first what anxiety is and asks you questions so you can figure out if your anxiety is excessive or taking over your life. This book teaches you how to face anxiety, when to seek help, even tips and ways to plan your life so you're feeling less anxious. A little anxiety is good for a person but when your anxiety begins to take over your life this book can be the best resource. It's full of easy to understand information and basically maps out ways to help.

I gained many new ways to deal with anxiety and panic and learned about the worry wheel which is made up of your anxious mind, body and actions.

An excellent book which gives you ways to feel less anxious instantly. Doesn't just explain what anxiety is, it takes each thing about anxiety and ways to deal with it and goes from there.

Recommended for all teens and adults.


KH in Greenville

MAD: HOW TO DEAL WITH YOUR ANGER AND GET RESPECT by James J. Crist.

This book shows why many teenagers have anger issues or why they get angry so much. It shows examples of other teens talking about what happens when they get angry. It also gives good tips for teens on how to handle their anger and what to do when they are angry.

I learned a lot of facts on why teens get angry so much. I also learned what being angry does to someone and the people they love. Finally I learned how to control my anger.

Recommended for all teens


SD in Howland

LAST NIGHT I SANG TO THE MONSTERS by Benjmin Alire Saenz

Zach's had an extremely rough life, his father was an alcoholic and his mother was a manic depressive. His brother who always did drugs would often go on angry rages and break things. Zach's mother would try to touch him, his father would drink and drink and his brother would beat him even one time breaking one of his ribs. Zach was surrounded by bad influences, but there was no way he could avoid it. Zach decided to binge drink and almost died, he was taken to the hospital and suffered alcohol withdrawal and was then sent to rehab. Zach's therapist Adam thinks of Zach as a very difficult client, Zach doesn't enjoy talking about his past and some of it he says he can't remember. Zach's only true way to get better is if he talks about what happened. Zach becomes close with his roommates Sharkey and Rafael. Rafael is the only true man he knows. He feels like he can relate to Rafael, because as a teen, Rafael was extremely similar to Zach. After weeks go by he finally decides to give in and realizes that "maybe living is supposed to be more than survival".

Everyone has monsters and you will find ways to face them.

Excellent book from start to finish really touching story.

Recommended for grades 9-12 and adults.


KH in Greenville

CUT by Patricia McCormick

Cut is about a girl named Callie. She was sent to "sick minds" (Sea Pines) because she was cutting herself. Callie has been hiding a lot about her life but she can't stay quiet much longer. Callie cuts herself and just lets it bleed, but this time she gets worried and goes to see the nurse Ruby. Callie has been hiding the guilt that her brother's sickness is her fault but finally she talks. She talks all about her brother, her mother and her father but avoids talking about herself. She breaks the silence multiple times saying it's her fault but she won't explain why. She gets so worried she breaks out of "sick minds" and runs away, calling her dad to come get her. The silence about the day her brother got sick finally comes out. Her father takes the blame, and Callie knows now that it wasn't her fault after all, and she asks her dad to take her back to Sea Pines.

I learned that you can't run away from your problems and there is always help to whatever problems you face, but cutting isn't the answer.

Yes I would recommend this book to a friend, her story is inspiring and gives hope to people who are cutting themselves to solve their problems.

Recommended for grades 9-12.


KH in Greenville

BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS I'LL BE DEAD by Julie Ann Peters

This book is about a girl named Daeyln who was bullied her entire life. After many failed suicide attempts she decides this time will work. She stumbles upon a website, basically a count down to her death, but this all changes when a boy named Santana won't leave her alone.

I gained a new perspective on how one person can really help save someones life. She was set on killing herself and all it took was Santana to not give up on her to make her decide against it. This book was powerful because of her struggle. She was struggling between emotions, she didn't want to feel them. Her stories also made it powerful as well she drank ammonia and bleach to kill herself when Santana was struggling to stay alive.

Very deep story really hits you hard.

Recommended for grades 11-12.


KH in Greenville

THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD by Steven Levenkron

This book is about a young girl named Katie who is involved in figure skating while maintaining an A+ average in a private school. She faces troubles with her mother because not only does her mother expect more from her all the time, she also puts so much pressure on her because she wants her to do better when this isn't what Katie wants, it is what her mother Katherine wants. Katie has no friends and does not socialize with anybody at all. Her father is not involved in her life at all because he walked out on them. Katie finally had it when she started cutting herself because it felt good to release the pain she had. She finally got caught when it was getting worse and she finally blew up. She got herself help and started counseling and was finally able to tell her mother how she felt and how this wasn't her dream, it was her mother's, and she wants to go to public school and she wants to have a normal life. Getting caught cutting herself and getting the proper help she needed changed her life in such brilliant ways.

From this book I gained courage and I learned that holding in your feelings can lead you to very bad places. Not only did Katie have the courage to open up to the Counselor and say what she said to her mother she was able to stop cutting herself because she wanted to get help before she got emotionally sicker.

I believe that if you are seriously hurting yourself emotionally and physically it might feel like you're going to just destroy yourself and you're never going to get better but in all reality this book shows you that there are ways to come out from that hole that you're in to see in the sunshine. There are ways to come about your problems. And that it is going to be okay.

Recommended for all teens.


AH in Howland

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS by C.J. Omololu

Everyone has a secret or two but Lucy Tompkins, a sixteen year old girl, lives in a life formed around a secret. She just wants to be a normal teenager with a normal life but in her case, that wasn't the way her life is. Lucy tries to make her life as normal as she can but she always knew that she was hiding something from everyone so they never could know the truth. The truth was that her mother's compulsive hoarding turned their life into literally garbage. However, one day something happened that was so unexpected & everything changed in Lucy's life forever. Now, Lucy has to take control & protect her family's secrets, but to what extremes could she go to hide their secrets from being revealed to everyone?

I learned that if someone is a compulsive hoarder they should look for help because it can affect everyone in their life or around them. It can make your life into lies so that no one ever sees what you have become in life. You could have had a normal life at one time, but then something happens that changes your life forever & makes you become something no one ever thought you would become. Compulsive hoarders can be dangerous in some case because their hoarding can cause a lot of negative consequences.

I would recommend this book because it can show the effects of being or living with a compulsive hoarding & it's a great story.

Recommended for all teens.


EJ in Millerton

LISA BRIGHT AND DARK by John Neufeld

Lisa Bright, and Dark is a book about a girl named Lisa who knows she's losing her mind and is asking for her parents to get her the help she needs. This book shows the struggle Lisa must go through with her friends who volunteered to help her show her parents that something really is wrong.

I gained a lot from reading this book. It was a real page turner, showing her struggle to get her parents attention to get her help.

Recommended for Grades 9 - 12.


KDH in Greenville

LIKE A THORN by Clara Vidal

In Like a Thorn, Mélie grows up believing that her mother is two different people, Rosy Mother and Dark Mother. What she doesn't realize is that her mother has a mental disease that she refuses to acknowledge. In order to ward away Dark Mother, Mélie practices a series of obsessive rituals that grow in complexity as she grows older. Over time, Mélie starts to believe that she is the crazy one.

This novel went by very quickly and may appear to be for younger children due to the type size, but the subject matter is for more mature readers. It was fascinating and also heartbreaking to watch how poor mothering can cause mental instability in a young girl.

I've never read anything like this. It was heartbreaking to read, but definitely worth it.

Recommended for Grades 9 - 12


RVK in Esopus

LIKE A THORN by Clara Vidal

Melie's mother is sometimes nice, sometimes mean -- and always prone to erratic behavior that Melie does her best to deal with. As a little girl, she invents things to protect herself from her mother's mood swings. When she becomes a teenager, tip-toeing around her own house she becomes depressed. No one understands her, and since her mother is not able to change, she has to do it herself.

It was a nice book that shows you sometimes you have to take it on yourself to do what's best for you.

Recommended.
Musfera in Esopus

LIZARD PEOPLE by Charlie Price

Seventeen-year-old Ben Mander has a particularly OK life. His mother, who has schizophrenia, refuses to take her medication, and when under duress spins outrageous tales of lizard people. Ben's father, divorced from his mother and estranged from his current girlfriend, spends most of his days haunting sleazy bars and crashing in cheap motels. Ben struggles to work with his mother.

This was a good book that shows how sometimes, it's the kids who have to take care of their parents.

Recommended.
Musfera in Esopus

GET WELL SOON by Julie Halpern

Anna is sent to a mental hospital to work on her panic attacks. Now she must learn to live in the hospital and adjust to her peers and the new rules.

I would recommend this book to a friend because it was a good, entertaining book. It teaches us that it doesn't matter what medication you need, friends will always make you feel the best.

Recommended.
Joe in Esopus

TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER by Crissa-Jean Chappell

Fin begins to get major Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder after her parents break up after their move to Miami. The only way she can stop is when she hangs with Thayer, who has Attention-Deficit Disorder and is always in trouble.

While the message of the book is empowering -- disorders can be managed with willpower as well as medicine -- overall the book is not strong. Fin's disorder is poorly described and the plot is vague.

Marginal.
Meghan in Esopus

INSIDE OUT by Terry Trueman

Zach suffers from schizophrenia and is tempted by his mind to kill himself. He is trapped in a coffee shop when two boys come in for a robbery. Zach is endangered without his medication and is forced to make choices.

I would recommend this book to a friend who didn't know what schizophrenia was. It would help one get to understand what the disease is and see what it can cause like it did in Zach's case.

Recommended.
Chris in Greenville

LIZARD PEOPLE by Charlie Price

Ben has to deal with his mentally ill mother, all on his own. His mother refuses to take her meds and is constantly frightened of "Lizard People." When things can't get stranger, he meets Marco who also claims to have met lizard people. Marco's and his mother's story oddly match up...

It's hard for kids who have to deal with having a mentally unstable parent. A good book that is unpredictable and full of fun characters.

Good.
Meghan in Esopus

STRESSED OUT STUDENTS' GUIDE TO HANDLING PEER PRESSURE by Lisa Medoff

This book has an interesting and easy-to-read format with helpful information. The quotes are from real teens on very specific topic headings. I also liked the advice in what to do in certain situations.

I would definitely recommend this book because it shows healthy ways to relieve stress.

Outstanding.
Emily in Garrison