Book Review: The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle

Entering her sophomore year in high school, Winifred (Fred) feels umoored - a bit nervous. While this is typical on each first day of school, it is particularly difficult for Fred because her two best (only) friends transferred to private school. Fred wondering is she will be able to move on.

It doesn't take long for Fred to reconnect with a former friend and make some new friends, but the self doubt that she constantly lives with plays havoc with her life. She is starting to swirl out of control - not being able to sleep and cutting her arms in order to feel something - even eating food which she knows will make her sick in order to punish herself.

This is a great book to view/read if you want to vicariously want to taste this brand of mental illness. And perhaps the hope that is sitting beyond mental illness if help arrives. 

This is a quick read which is more than worth the time.

 

Book Reviews: I Know What I am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi / Sicilio AND Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Artemisia Gentileschi was an artist who lived in the late 1500s and early 1600s. 
And these two novels about her life offer some two very possibilities for her mental reality.

If you are going to read both, try the Sicilio book first. This is a graphic novel which is FULL of contextual detail. It shares the contextual and historical background for Artemisia and her art. This isn't an easy book to read in any any. There are a lot of characters in this book to keep track of, a lot of context that sets the stage for what she went through - it is DENSE with historical information. But beyond that - this book is full of betrayal, abuse, rape, dishonesty... AND persistence, feminism, overcoming. I loved this book because it provided the context to better understand the world Artemisia lived in. I loved this book because many of the messages are universal to humankind - bigger than a time and place in the world. 

Once you have finished the  Sicilio book, try the McCullough. After having build the context of Artemisia's life, this different mind-set perspective (offered in a novel in verse) will offer another possibility for Artemisia's viewpoint of her own life, and how she overcame the hurdles she encountered.

In any case, this is a book about art but also about feminism and about #MeToo. Note that there are a lot of triggers in this book: rape, lecherous men, and living with a shaky foundation. 

Enjoy these books, look up the art - check out Artemisia's art as well as that of her contemporaries. Enjoy and learn.

Book Review: The Silent Patient: Alex Michaelides

This book needs to be gripped with two hands - it is quite the ride!

Prologue: Alicia Berenson's Diary - July 14th 
Here we learn about Alicia's love for her husband, Gabriel. She talks about enjoying watching him cook, how he is "elegant, balletic, organized". So opposite of Alicia herself. She also shares how she is struggling, how she feels that she is wading through mud, how Gabriel gave her this journal to help her get her feelings out. And how she plans to use it as a place to write "positive, happy, normal thoughts."

And then the first chapter begins with, "Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband."
Boom - and we are off into this psychological thriller.

This book is so very much about human nature with some therapy tossed in, a whole lot of  mystery, and plot twists and turns that will surprise you.  Pick this book up if the inner workings of the human mind interests you.

I accessed this book through my SORA account which is linked to Nashua Public Library.

 

Book Review: Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

 

This book tells the story of Amal, a young black teen who finds himself in the middle of a fight. The victim of the fight is seriously injured and Amal is arrested for the crime.

Things to know:

• Amal is black
• The other kid is white 

This is the story of inequality, the school to prison pipeline, about expectations and assumptions, about art and literature and poetry and family and friends... about life inside black male skin. 

This novel in verse not only punches the air, but is a punch in the gut. It is so good and will leave you thinking. 

You can find this book at the Nashua Public library or it is available through Libby or SORA (if you have attached your Nashua Public Library card.)

Before you start, watch this video about The Story Behind Punching the Air

Book Review: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Kiko lives with her white mother after her Japanese father divorced and moved on with his life. Kiko, an artist, craves her mother's validation - both for Kiko's art and to find her own beauty. She also wants recognition for her art, the love that we all deserve, and a pathway that is all her own. Mostly she wants to enter Prism, an art college. When her rejection letter comes in the air, Kiko's dreams are shattered and she needs figure out what is next.

This is a book about mental illness and beauty. It is about finding one's way in the world. The story starts a little slowly, but this is one you will want to stick with.