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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Two kids bond over trauma. Very YA written for high school lit and EFL text books, though that is not necessarily a bad thing.
3.5
A bit predictable towards the end, but great characters. I also loved the mention of my home town <3
A bit predictable towards the end, but great characters. I also loved the mention of my home town <3
book talk notes for grade 8: Petula is drowning in grief over her guilt at her perception over having killed her baby sister. She has completely withdrawn from all of her friends and is paranoid over safety, not wanting her parents to have to bury another child. A new boy joins her classes in school and her grief counselling art therapy class. He starts to draw her out of her shell and reconnect with life. The kids in the art class start making video projects to help them deal with their grief and other issues. Petula finds out that her new friend/boyfriend was the drunk driver that killed his friend and paralyzed the other.
notes: Does mention sex, so don't book talk this to grade 6.
notes: Does mention sex, so don't book talk this to grade 6.
I had a hard time liking Petula. I suppose it was intentional (?) but she was portrayed very young and immature. I really liked Jacob and how he brought the group together.
This was a very easy, quick read. It was good, but at the same time I didn't like it.
LIKES:
- The characters were all very relatable and easy to like.
- It's set in Canada! I am Canadian! I know where the places they talk about and go are, and I know what those places are like, because I've visited them.
- The dialogue was fun and interesting.
DISLIKES:
- I found Petula's anxiety to be not represented properly. I have severe anxiety/social anxiety, and Petula's 'anxiety' seemed more like OCD (like when she washes her hands for two rounds of happy birthday) And just,.......really not like anxiety at all. HOWEVER, I realize that anxiety affects people in different ways, and that people will have different experiences. I just personally really disliked how anxiety was represented in this book.
- THE WHOLE GIRL MEETS BOY, FALLS IN LOVE AND EVERYTHING BECOMES WONDERFUL TROPE. I was rather disappointed that that trope had to happen.
Anyways, I overall enjoyed this book. I read it in two sittings!!
Your can read my full interview here: http://lifeofamirkwoodelf.blogspot.ca/2017/03/optimists-die-first-by-susin-nielson-in.html
LIKES:
- The characters were all very relatable and easy to like.
- It's set in Canada! I am Canadian! I know where the places they talk about and go are, and I know what those places are like, because I've visited them.
- The dialogue was fun and interesting.
DISLIKES:
- I found Petula's anxiety to be not represented properly. I have severe anxiety/social anxiety, and Petula's 'anxiety' seemed more like OCD (like when she washes her hands for two rounds of happy birthday) And just,.......really not like anxiety at all. HOWEVER, I realize that anxiety affects people in different ways, and that people will have different experiences. I just personally really disliked how anxiety was represented in this book.
- THE WHOLE GIRL MEETS BOY, FALLS IN LOVE AND EVERYTHING BECOMES WONDERFUL TROPE. I was rather disappointed that that trope had to happen.
Anyways, I overall enjoyed this book. I read it in two sittings!!
Your can read my full interview here: http://lifeofamirkwoodelf.blogspot.ca/2017/03/optimists-die-first-by-susin-nielson-in.html
Fun quick read. Just the right amount of sad. I enjoyed the pacing and the focus the story had and the character development while quick didn't seem forced because of the pace of the story itself. Nielsen focused on the point of her story and because of that the rest felt natural.
Later edit: Because I can't stop thinking about it I need to come back and add that I just can't get over how well fleshed out every single character in this story is. At the end of the book in the About the Author I read that Nielsen wrote for DeGrassi and you can tell because each of these characters could field their own story line or their own book. There are no secondary characters here. Yes she has zoomed in to tell Petula's story, but unlike most books you seem to read that have main characters and everyone else, these characters were out living their own lives, dealing with their own crap, and they were in Petula's life but had lives all their own. I loved it!!!
Later edit: Because I can't stop thinking about it I need to come back and add that I just can't get over how well fleshed out every single character in this story is. At the end of the book in the About the Author I read that Nielsen wrote for DeGrassi and you can tell because each of these characters could field their own story line or their own book. There are no secondary characters here. Yes she has zoomed in to tell Petula's story, but unlike most books you seem to read that have main characters and everyone else, these characters were out living their own lives, dealing with their own crap, and they were in Petula's life but had lives all their own. I loved it!!!
Petula has a variety of anxiety issues all stemming from a tragedy that happened to her family a few years before. When she meets "The Bionic Man," a new classmate, she begins to overcome her own issues and help others to overcome theirs.
Petula is 16. She experienced a trauma and is now afraid of everything. The only bright spot in her week is an art therapy session for her and other troubled teens. When a new boy joins the group, he changes the dynamics. Sweet story.
A great book tackling mental health, grief, and family dynamics.