Dab of Reality

When thinking about books to share, two came to mind immediately – Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, and You Know Where to Find Me, by Rachel Cohn, but for very different reasons. These titles deal with death (or near death experiences) and the aftermath for the friends and family left behind. The reality of thinking about life and death is clear and intense in these books. However, they address the subject in such remarkably different ways. We don’t want to be scared of the inevitable, so the introduction to such a serious topic is important. On the other hand, writing can profoundly affect many, changing their behavior and perception of the world around them. With that in mind, one should tread lightly when entering these books, but enter them, nonetheless.

Wintergirls is an intense, provocative, and horrifying look into the world of an anorexic girl whose friend, who was at one point her best-friend, takes her own life through means unbelievable to many, especially me. What makes it even more incredible, the reality is that tens of thousands of young women struggle with bulimia and anorexia every day. The novel was carefully and meticulously written about the girl who survived. Yet, her emotion is unattainable, but her personal plight to keep her life (weight) under control is so real that one wonders whether it is dangerous to read the novel for many young, impressionable minds.

Similarly in You Know Where to Find Me, we see a young girl, whose future was on the cusp, yet she makes the choice to take her own life – she battled with depression for most of her adolescent life (her biological father battled with the same affliction). The protagonist is her cousin, who struggles with her own addiction to pain and distress, but who works through the day-to-day while mulling over her incredible loss. The reader sees a lonely, uncomfortable young woman trudge through her life, but you sense the promise in the words on the page. The background is real and distressing, but important to discover. Both of these novels are uncomfortable at times; the reality is harsh and cruel. However, and most importantly, these young women are worth taking the time to understand.