Book Review: I Was Here

This year I am trying to read many best selling YA novels. For the most part, these are not Christian books, but they are what captivates today’s teen reader. 

My goal as an author is to write equally captivating books that give hope and real answers. Not pat answers. Not cardboard answers. Book that have real characters with real struggles. Not one dimensional characters.

I’ve noticed that many of the books I am reading have to do with death. I Was Here is no exception. Like All the Bright Places and  13 Reasons Why, it was about suicide.

Here’s Amazon’s summary of it:

When her best friend, Meg, commits suicide by drinking a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how did she miss the signs of Meg's depression? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, and some secrets of his own. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

Since they covered the highlights, I’m going to jump in with what I think are the good and bad points of the book.

The good points:

• The book tackles the tough topics of depression and suicide
• The characters are well developed
• Cody and Ben go to church and the book includes the sermon

My problems with the book:

• A megagob of swearing including the f-word
• Sex between two teens and references to other times
• No hope of an afterlife is given other than someone saying that if there was an afterlife and you didn’t like it, you could just kill yourself again

I think the Christian market is sadly lacking in good books that deal with real issues. Ones that captivate the readers the way this one and others in the secular market do. This blog is for teens, but I have authors of YA fiction who read it, so my challenge to you is to fill in the gaps in Christian fiction.

Teen suicide is a major problem, the third leading cause of death for youth ages 15-24. And it’s estimated that for every successful suicide attempt, there are 15 failed attempts.

Kid’s Health has a good article on teen suicide HERE

I guess my question is, why are so many teens attempting to end their lives? The article lists these factors:

Young people with mental health problems — such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, or insomnia — are at higher risk for suicidal thoughts. Teens going through major life changes (parents' divorce, moving, a parent leaving home due to military service or parental separation, financial changes) and those who are victims of bullying are at greater risk of suicidal thoughts.

Factors that increase the risk of suicide among teens include:

· a psychological disorder, especially depression, bipolar disorder, and alcohol and drug use (in fact, about 95% of people who die by suicide have a psychological disorder at the time of death)

·  feelings of distress, irritability, or agitation

· feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness that often accompany depression

· a previous suicide attempt

· a family history of depression or suicide

· emotional, physical, or sexual abuse

· lack of a support network, poor relationships with parents or peers, and feelings of social isolation

· dealing with bisexuality or homosexuality in an unsupportive family or community or hostile school environment

That being the case, it sounds like we need to get some programs in place for teens and make counseling more easily accessible.

I think we also need more books about teens who look at the odds and the things stacked against them, struggle with it , and then find positive—and realistic—solutions.

Can anyone suggest books like that?

Teens--what do you look for in a book? What new book would you like to see written? What subjects should Christian authors write about?

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Jasmine and I first watched the movie The Fault in Our Stars. Then we listened to it on CD.

The basic story:

From IMBD "Hazel and Augustus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous, given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they meet and fall in love at a cancer support group." 

Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 17-year-old with cancer, reluctantly visits a cancer support group at her mother's insistence. Her trusty portable oxygen tank goes with her. At the meeting she meets August Waters, a teen with one leg and a unique outlook on life. The two hit it off, and Hazel shares her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction with Augustus. He in turn gives her his favorite book to read--The Price of Dawn, a shoot 'em up book with a high body count.

Hazel shares that An Imperial Afflication is the only novel about cancer that describes her own life. She is frustrating that author, Peter Van Houten, ends the novel mid sentence denying the readers closure.

Since she used up the special wish granted to terminally ill children to visit Disney when she was 12, Augustus uses his wish to take himself  and Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author of An Imperial Afflication. When the meeting is less than stellar, Augustus refuses to let Hazel think she wasted his trip.

Once home, things take a turn for the worse for Augustus whose cancer has returned. And we find out, as Augusts says, "Life in not a wish granting factory." 

There are a lot of differences between the movie and the book. One of the biggest ones is that in the movie, while you get to see what a miserable excuse for a human author Peter Van Houten is, in the book you find out that the main character in his book was named for his daughter who died of cancer when she was 8. The book was an attempt reconcile himself with her death.

The book gives more backstory and insight to the main characters' motivations and thoughts, but it also has much more crude language and swearing than the movie.


Because they say it better than I do, I am including some of Plugged In Online's review. It's long, but it's worth reading. You can read the whole thing HERE

POSITIVE ELEMENTS

Death hangs over The Fault in Our Stars like the stars themselves, permeating every character and every interaction. And yet in the midst of mortality we see at least a sliver of something alive. Even in pain, hope can be found, we're told. Even in disappointment, meaning comes.

Loving someone, truly, through severe sickness, isn't easy. We see others fail under the pressure. But no matter what circumstances bring, Gus and Hazel care for each other throughout, often giving something of themselves in the process.

They're both heroic characters in their own ways, facing disease and circumstance with as much grace and courage as they can muster. Hazel's last few years have been something of a living sacrifice as she tries to cushion the blow of the inevitable pain that's coming for her parents. Gus wants to live a life of meaning—one filled with adventure and importance, so that when he does go, he's known and loved by millions.

There's a little merit in both of those strategies. But when Gus and Hazel get together, they get a better sense of what the beauty of life is really about. Hazel moves beyond responsibility and finds joy in her difficult life. And when she learns that, should she die, her parents won't die with her, that they're making plans for a life without her, she treats it as the best of gifts: the idea that she won't necessarily destroy everyone around her. And Gus, through Hazel, comes to understand that it's not so critical to be loved by throngs, as long as you've loved by and have changed the lives of a few. Or even just one.

Hazel finds solace while visiting the house of Anne Frank, the diary-writing Jewish girl killed in the Nazi Holocaust. "Where there is hope, there is life," we hear Anne's words playing in the background. "Think of all the beauty in everything around you. And be happy."

Unlike most teenage love stories, parents come across pretty well here. While Hazel and her folks have their moments of tension, there's no question about how much they love one another.

SPIRITUAL CONTENT

Hazel's support group takes place in the basement of an Episcopal church and is led by a cancer survivor who's a fervent—and, in Hazel's eyes, goofy—Christian. He sings a song that includes the words, "Christ is your friend and He'll be there to the end." And he rolls out a carpet depicting the Savior, telling participants standing on it that they're "literally in the heart of Jesus." As the story proceeds, then, the idea of literally being in the heart of Jesus, when they're literally in a church basement, is sometimes mocked.

Christianity is treated more reverentially during a funeral, wherein a priest reads Psalm 23 and people say a prayer. (Still, a much-loathed antagonist crashes the funeral and lets loose a quip about having to "fake pray.")

Both Hazel and Gus think a lot about what might come after death. Gus fears oblivion in this life while hanging on to a belief in at least some sort of afterlife, saying he wants to crash his own funeral as a ghost. Hazel's more cynical, telling Gus she doesn't believe in angels but she may believe in God, and while she'd like to believe in an afterlife she'd need more proof first. Someone suggests that her life has no meaning and her disease is a "failed experiment in mutation."

SEXUAL CONTENT

Eighteen-year-old Gus and 17-year-old Hazel are attracted to each other from the beginning. And while Hazel tries to keep him at arm's length for a while, their platonic relationship goes kablooey in Amsterdam. The two share a tender kiss in Anne Frank's house. Then they tumble into Gus' hotel room and have sex.

The scene shows Hazel and Gus taking off each other's shirts, and she undoes her bra. (We see her from the back.) They caress and kiss as they give in to their passion. Afterwards, both are seen mostly naked, with the sheet covering only the most critical body parts. And it's worth noting that much is made of Gus' previously virginal "condition" ... and that this union is seen as the perfect end to it. The couple cuddles and kisses elsewhere.

Gus' friend Isaac makes out with his girlfriend in a parking lot, and we see him kneading her (clothed) breast. Later, Isaac, who has lost both eyes to cancer, comments on the size of another girl's breasts. "I'm blind, but I'm not that blind," he says.

CRUDE OR PROFANE LANGUAGE

One very forceful f-word is used as a sexually derived insult. Also, a half-dozen s-words and a smattering of other bad words, including "a‑‑," "b‑‑ch," "b‑‑tard" and "h‑‑‑." God's name is used as an expletive about 30 times, twice paired with "d‑‑n."

CONCLUSION

"Apparently, the world is not a wish-granting factory," Gus says sadly.

It's a truth we all know. Even we Christians, whom the movie portrays as fairly naive, see that all too well. We wish it was. We want our happily ever after endings. But we know that happiness on earth is fickle and fleeting.

In The Fault in Our Stars (based on John Green's best-selling young adult novel) we find, indeed, that the stars haven't been especially kind to these two lovers. They don't have the time we'd wish for them—time to get jobs and have kids, to grow up and grow old. They've been given a finite number of days together—and even those days are filled with the looming problems and anxiety that cancer inevitably brings. And whenever it seems like something wonderful might finally happen, it goes awry. Each star they cling to, including each other, has a fault inside—a scratch, a split.

But even given such faulty stars, the two find joy and fulfillment. They have each other. They're loved. They live. Yes, maybe their days are built on borrowed time, but it's better than no time, and Hazel confesses that she's "grateful for our little infinity."

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world," Hazel says. "but you do get to choose who hurts you." That's a strangely powerful statement, I think.

Sadly, one fault Hazel and Gus share is that they don't always make the wisest of choices. They sleep together. And they prefer to see themselves as pawns of the stars, not beloved by those stars' Creator.

This isn't an anti-Christian film, exactly—just spiritually uncertain. Nor is it saturated in sex or depravity. This isn't a bad movie, really. In many ways, it's quite good.

But here's the thing: Because it is quite good—a persuasive, emotional story with strong, positive messages about sacrifice, hard truths and true love—the bad stuff can come off as more persuasive than usual. It's harder to see a loving God yourself when the characters you grow to care about can't, or won't. It's harder to object to premarital sex while weepily watching Hazel and Gus—teens who might never get the chance to ever have sex again—get so much pleasure and fulfillment from it.

The Fault in Our Stars is, I suppose, a little like its title. For all its sparkly power, it has scratches and splits. We know immediately when a movie like Noah drifts away from its moorings. But it's hard to see a film with crystal-clear eyes when you're always dabbing them with a Kleenex.

My final thoughts are these: It's a good story which I would have enjoyed a lot more if there had been less crude and profane language. If there is one thing John Green excels at in his books it is telling a true to life story with an abundance of insight and crude language. I think it would have been more powerful if it had a stronger spiritual emphasis--hope of heaven. But it is not a Christian book. 

I would proceed with caution when reading the book or watching the movie. I wouldn't recommend it for anyway under 13 or 14 years old.

My challenge to myself and other Christian authors is to write books that are equally insightful and engaging, but which also provide spiritual guidance and insights. We need more books that weave in faith elements without cramming it down the reader's throats. A book should have an engaging story, not a thinly disguised sermon. It should offer hope to the reader and send them on a God search. Let's build up the CBA market with books that are as widely read as The Fault in Our Stars and the others I've reviewed on this blog.
Be genuine
Be real
Be connected
Write your best story

These are my thoughts. Feel free to add yours in the comment section.
Some of the fun of The Fault in Our Stars was Gus and Hazel's quotes. Who can forget:

Favorite quotes HERE
Read my other reviews
All the Bright Places
13 Reasons Why
The Hunger Games (Bryan Davis)

Book Review: All the Bright Places

This is my review, my own thoughts. You don't have to agree with me or my opinions. You can even disagree with me in the comments section. Just be polite or the comment will be deleted.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

The characters rise off the page and demand to be heard and understood-Me :)

An unusual but effective setting, the book begins on the ledge of the bell tower at school where both Theodore Finch and Violet Markey are at. Six stories above the school, Violet is frozen by fear, and “Finch the freak” talks her down. Because Violets’ reputation as a popular cheerleader, Finch goes along with the students’ false belief that Violet talked him out of jumping, and she becomes a hero.

This incident in the tower begins a friendship between two unforgettable characters, one plagued by darkness and mental health issues and the other distraught over the death of her sister in a car accident on their way home from a party a year before.

Finch the idea of a school project of wandering around Indiana and becoming familiar with different tourist attractions to a teacher and then quickly claims Violet as his partner. As they visit different tourist spots, Violet begins to see Indiana through Finch’s eyes. Everything becomes exciting and new. As the project continues, Violet slowly overcomes her fears and rides in a car for the first time since the accident that claims her sister life. She later drives.

While Violet slowly heals from her grief, Theodore wrestles with deep and dark thoughts. When he disappears, Violet finds herself following clues both to where he is and what is going on with him. Although the ending is not happy, it is realistic and satisfying.

The author draws from her own life experiences of having lost people to suicide to write this book, and this gives the story authenticity. She has insight into how teens think and how mental health issues effect a teen. The characters rise off the page and demand to be heard and understood.

This book made me:

• Miss Indiana where I lived for 26 years.
• Wonder if the places mentioned in the book were real.
• Wish that we knew more about mental health issues and how to help the people plagued by them.
• Think of someone I knew who committed suicide last year.
• Want to explore more places in our state (Florida), which has been something we always try to do. When we travel, we make it as much about the journey as the destination. 

The downside:

The values held by the main characters are those held by many teens in the public school. Theodore uses a lot of cuss words including the “F-word,” and he is known for having had sex with many girls in the past. During the book Violet loses her virginity to him.

At one point the school counselor mentioned the possibility of bipolar disorder, but it doesn’t seem that anyone made an attempt to figure out if this is what Theodore suffered from or get him on medication.

Although I believe in God and his power to heal, give hope and help, I think that medical intervention is also needed with mental health issues.

I will be talking about suicide in a future blog post.

Recommendation:

It is definitely a book worth reading, but you will encounter values contrary to evangelical values. If you are easily offended or prefer to avoid that, don’t read the book. 

The book does however offer a realistic look at the lives of teens dealing with tough things. The sad thing is that Theodore and Violet do not seem to hold any true belief in God that offers them comfort or hope, although they do visit churches.

I listened to this book on CD while doing some projects, so it is possible that I missed some things.

The book has won the following awards:

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2015
A Miami Herald Best Books for Children 2015
GoodReads Choice Awards 2015 Young Adult Fiction Category Winner
A TIME Top Young Adult Book of 2015
A NPR 2015 Guide to Great Reads Book

Here are a couple of comments the author herself wrote on her web page (click the link to read the whole thing:

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he thinks of ways he might die, but every day he also searches for—and manages to find—something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.

This is a heart-wrenching, unflinching story of love shared, life lived, and two teens who find one another while standing on the edge.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below. If you have suggestions of similar books or books that teens would enjoy reading, please list them below too.

Other things to read:

 Jennifer Niven's Ten Ways to Beat the January Blues
Teen Depression
Getting Through Holiday Blues
Red, Green and Blue
Other Novels to Read

Red, Green and Blue

Five words of a Christmas song keep going through my mind... "all is cheery and bright," and I wonder, what if for some people all isn't cheery and bright during this holiday season? Because, here's the thing, people have made Christmas into a big month long celebration complete with social gatherings, fattening food and gifts that can break your budget. The high expectations come with a lot of stress and pressure to be happy and engaged in all the activities.

For some people Christmas isn't red and green, it's blue.

But what if instead of red and green, things in your world are blue? No, not really blue, but you have a case of the blues. Or even depression, whether caused by the holidays or not. So while everyone else is having fun hanging out, shopping, and going to movies and parties, you're miserable and just want the season to be over so life can go back to normal. Know what? You're not alone.

If you have true depression, that's a medical condition. It's not you feeling sorry for yourself, and it's not in your mind. It doesn't mean you're not a good Christian or failing to trust God. You need to see a doctor to get help. There's nothing at all wrong with getting help or taking medicine. After all, God gave those doctors the brains to diagnose you and prescribe medicine. 

Depression is very real. It often needs medical treatment.

If you're just having a case of the blues, there are things you can do to make it better.

• Be realistic about the holidays. You may not have a storybook Christmas. Don't compare your Christmas to anyone else's. The day might not be magical. If your family doesn't get along during the rest of the year, chances are they aren't going to get along at Christmas either. Adding the stress of having too much to do and spending too much money along with feeling like you have to be happy and family situations can get ugly.  So if you're expecting miracles, you might be facing failed expectations. Not that God can't work a miracle in your family, but that takes willing hearts.
  
• Don't wear a mask. You might be at a party and all your friends are having a blast. You'd rather be at home watching TV. You're surrounded by people, yet you are lonelier than when you're actually alone. Be real about your feelings--maybe not during the party itself, but later when you have a chance to talk. Your true friends will get it. Make sure you have your support people in place. There's a story in the Bible about a crippled man who wanted to see Jesus. He couldn't get there on his own, so four friends each took a corner of his mat and carried him. Who has your corners? Avoid people and places that get you down. Stay away from negative influences. Ask for help if you need it. You might even want to join a support group. They let you share your feelings and know you aren't alone.
  
• Don't sweat the little stuff or let the stuff you can't control get you down. You can't make the weather cooperate with your plans, and you can't control other people's actions or reactions. But you can follow the same routines you always do, and you can take care of yourself. A lack of sleep, exercise and good nutrition will just make things worse. You may not feel like doing anything, but exercise will help reduce stress, so skate, bike, run or go to the gym. The weather has been warm enough this year to be outside more than normal.
  
• Grieve your losses. That might include a break up, a fight with a friend, the loss of a pet, the loss of a family member through death or divorce, the loss of a job or anything that was important to you. There is no timeline for grieving, so find a way to deal with the feelings whether it's been a few days or a few years.
  
• Some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a mood disorder that happens around the same time of year. Some people blame it on less sun while others have different explanations. If you find yourself feeling down every winter, you might want to do some research into it to find a solution that works for you.
  
• Focus on what's important. You know the Christmas story. The babe in a manger came to save the world and offer eternal life. That's what it's all about. Find a Bible and read the gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are Jesus' story. And his story makes a difference.
  
• Plan something for after the holidays. Some people who don't have the holiday blues suffer from post holiday blues. Either way, plan an activity or fun outing for after the season is over. Or set some goals. Learn to swim. Read a series of books. (Look back to the post about the 100 best teen books.) Learn American Sign Language. Join a club.   

Holiday blues and holiday depression are real. If you are suffering, talk to someone. If you're not, be sensitive to the feelings of those around you who might be. Find your own way to make this season cheery and bright.

What things give you joy during the holidays? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Learn more:
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Preventing Holiday Depression
Myths and Facts About Depression
Teenage Depression

When All is Not Cheery and Bright

I saw this cartoon, and it hit me that in this holiday season when all is supposed to be cheery and bright, there are a lot of people who aren't looking forward to the season and who hope to just make it through. Depression can seem worse during times when we are expected to be festive, and the holidays may hold a depression of their own. I'll be talking more about that in an upcoming post.

The cartoon says "One awesome thing about Eeyore," but I think it really should say "One awesome thing about Eeyore's friends"