Surviving Sam - Softcover

Grade 9 Up-Pagan is just 14 when her twin brother, Sam, and their Uncle Bob are killed by an avalanche. She and her father survive, but are physically, emotionally, and psychologically battered. Academically and musically gifted Pagan loses an eye, endures surgeries and physical therapy, but it's her depression, described with clinical precision, that is at the heart of the novel. Now 16 and in her senior year, she wants to stop feeling her loss, but is unwilling to let Sam go. Despite ongoing psychiatric care, she has made at least eight suicide attempts and continues to flirt with disaster by shoplifting and experimenting with alcohol and drugs, both prescribed and otherwise. She faints, has panic attacks, has stopped menstruating, skips school, and spirals downward. Her family, too, becomes increasingly dysfunctional. Other subplots involve a former best friend who is gay and worried (correctly, it turns out) about coming out to his father; Pagan's new girlfriend, Brett, sleeping with Pagan's new boyfriend; and Pagan obsessing about Joe, a married cop, all of which show the complexity of teen lives. Especially convincing is the depiction of the painfully slow but effective treatment that eventually helps Pagan begin to feel better, to admit to herself that her brother is dead. The use of profanity is appropriate for the serious subject matter, and in keeping with the anger and despair of the protagonist. There's nothing revolutionary here, but the book is plausible, heartfelt, mature, and hopeful.
Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA
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