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I’ve long been a fan of novels written in poems, and this was no exception. Following the stories of three teens, hospitalized after their various suicide attempts, it isn’t always the easiest book to read.
Vanessa is a cutter, and was hospitalized after her brother came home to find her bleeding to death in the bathroom. Connor was the perfect kid, aside from his affair, and his incident with the gun. Tony’s life was different from the outset. He spent years in Juvenile Detention, and then some on the streets. After the loss of the closest friend he ever had, he wasn’t sure he could go on anymore.
Throughout the story, Vanessa, Tony and Connor’s stories intertwine, weaving in and out of one another. Tony and Vanessa form a bond which will likely last the rest of the their lives, and which is instrumental to their healing process. Connor, left feeling only he has nowhere to turn, has the hardest time of all. With seemingly the best life, based on appearances, he is a hard lesson in things are not always what they seem.
Any Hopkins fan will definitely appreciate Impulse, as would any poetry lover, or anyone who’s found themselves in a similar situation to its main characters.
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This book comes with a warning. About not picking it up if you have places to be. Believe it. And add to the list: sleep. If you are at all insomnia-prone, do not get into bed and pick up this book. You’re not going to want to put it down. You might not be able to put it down.
Clay Jensen is having a bad week. Which is a massive understatement. But I don’t think he’d have accurate words to tell you how he feels, so I’m certainly not going to try.
It started when Hannah Baker failed to show up for school. It continued in the whispers and looks. The reactions, some of which seemed random, some which almost maybe made sense. It culminated in the package left at his front door. The one with his name on it. No return address. The brief excitement ended when he found a cassette player and popped in the first tape. And out came Hannah’s voice.
Hannah Baker lost control of her life. At least, she couldn’t seem to gain control of her life. Even once she realized what was going on. As it got worse, and oblivion seemed to be spiraling her way, she took it upon herself to document what had happened. From the beginning. Which in this case was her move to town. The fresh start that got off on the wrong foot, through no fault of her own, and never ceased to misstep.
She wrote a list. After a specific and yet random night which caused it all to collide, she wrote a list. All the connections. The events and the people. From that list she narrowed it down to 13. Thirteen key players. Thirteen people whose lives, in one way or another, will never be the same. Not just because Hannah Baker didn’t come to school. She also left them a message. A message they and 12 others will know. If they follow the rules. No tellling who could end up knowing if they don’t.
There’s another set of tapes. And a follower, making sure the first set gets around.
Clay, for his part, can hardly take it all in. From the first time he saw Hannah, he liked her. But for varied reasons, not the least of which were the rumors that began it all, he never tried. He was afraid to find out he might be wrong, he thought she’d never give him a chance. And then he nearly had one…only to lose it. And then he really lost it, because Hannah took it all away. No second chances.
As he makes his way through the tapes, there’s an incredible amount of disbelief. A lot of inability to process. And yet he perseveres. He plays all the tapes, beginning to end, in one sitting. Trying to understand. Shuddering at every new piece to slide into place. Trying to imagine how he can go back to school and face these people, whose reactions now make sense.
It’s as much because of Clay, as because of Hannah, that you won’t be able to stop reading. And while it might seem you could never be left feeling anything but despairing…it’s not true.
This about awareness. This is about change. And most of all, this is about hope.
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This is not the book to read if you’re looking for a happy story. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t end well, but it’s not going to leave you feeling uplifted and light.
Set in small town Minnesota, this is the story of a family. A mother who never quite wanted to be, a father who can’t quite get it right, and isn’t happy enough with what he has, a son who gets lost inside himself, and a daughter just trying to keep up. The story is told from ever side, each looking a little different.
Claire speaks to trying to cope first with a drunk, depressed husband, and then to life without him. Esau speaks to his time in the hospital, and to trying to cope with life outside of it. Kate speaks to all of it. Her missing brother, her lost father, her mother, lost in a different way. Trying to fit the pieces together.
The book is beautifully written, and seeing the story unfold through three sets of very separate eyes is…for sudden lack of a better term, eye-opening, to say the least. Fans of Hornbacher’s memoir will likely enjoy her foray into ficiton, as will anyone who appreciates a good book.
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At age 13, Jordan James is home alone with his father when he hears a gunshot. Right away, he knows what’s happened. And although his following actions are brave beyond belief, that’s not how they stick in his mind. His rendition of events leads him to slowly become invisible. He pushes away all his friends, discontinues dealings with anyone who wants to talk about, or knows about, his father, and by Junior year, is essentially anonymous.
That year, his mother begins dating again. Don, who lives down the street from Jordan and his mom, is the proud owner of a ‘76 Corvette Stingray. After one ride in the car, Jordan is hooked. He begins regularly stopping by to help Don work on the ‘Vette after school. And once he learns the keys are always in it, begins to sneak out at night to borrow it.
One such night, out for a joyride, he comes upon Becka Thorson on the side of the road, needing help. Becka is a “cheerleader goddess,” and Jordan can’t believe his luck. The minor details that he’s lied to her about who he is, and about owning the car, don’t seem to matter in contrast to the fact that she likes him. But the lies quickly pile up and things begin to spin out of Jordan’s control.
As has to happen, his luck eventually runs out, and he gets caught. But this doesn’t turn out to be the disaster he foresaw. And in the end, it’s this climax of events that leads Jordan to do what he never could before. Open up, let go, and begin to heal.
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This was the first PUSH book I purchased, and it’s been read so many times I own two copies, because the first one is held together with scotch tape.
For some people this would probably be a really sad book, but that’s not what I take away from it.
Eireann Corrigan led a fairly priveleged life as a teen: Private School, bent rules. But the other side of that coin was the pressure that came with said life, and the years spent in hospital wards. The struggle to decide to make it in the world.
When her first boyfriend shoots himself and the next drives into a tree, she concludes it must be her.
Through these poems she relates her story. The trials, the triumphs, the small steps and the large, the love and the disillusionment. And the lessons so hardly learned.
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