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Summary
Summary
WHEN DORA, ELENA'S older sister, is diagnosed with depression and has to be admitted to the hospital, Elena can't seem to make sense of their lives anymore. At school, the only people who acknowledge Elena are Dora's friends and Jimmy Zenk-who failed at least one grade and wears blackevery day of the week. And at home, Elena's parents keep arguing with each other. Elena will do anything to help her sister get better and get their lives back to normal-even when the responsibility becomes too much to bear.
Author Notes
Julie Schumacher received an undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and an MFA degree in fiction from Cornell University. She is a professor of English at the University of Minnesota. A short story she wrote while attending Oberlin College was reprinted in The Best American Short Stories. She is the author of several books for adults and younger readers including The Book of One Hundred Truths, The Chain Letter, Grass Angel, and Dear Committee Members.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Stable and stoic Elena is a high school freshman when her beloved older sister, Dora, is hospitalized for depression. Elena takes it upon herself to look after her sibling when she comes home, while Dora and, ultimately, the entire family fall to pieces. In the end, Elena, with the help of her friend Jimmy Zenk, comes to realize that she alone can't make her better and that Dora has to help herself. With few words, characters are expertly fleshed out. For example, telling details reveal Elena's personality: "Matching socks was generally acknowledged to be my specialty." Schumacher eloquently describes the devastating effect that depression can have on a family. The writing is spare, direct, and honest. Written in the first person, this is a readable, ultimately uplifting book about a difficult subject.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Lena Lindt and her older sister, Dora, have always been close, like "right and left hands laced tight together." They and their parents accept that Dora is the moody but fun one, "a storm on the horizon, [Lena] the needle that always pointed to steady," a formula that works until Dora is overcome by severe depression in her junior year of high school. Schumacher's (The Book of One Hundred Truths) characterizations are humane yet shaded: to combat the effect of Dora's illness, Mr. and Mrs. Lindt send the outwardly coping Lena to a therapist but treat Dora's eventual hospitalization like a shameful secret. Lena, meanwhile, feels an us-against-the-parents bond with her sister, who uses their intimacy to pressure Lena to keep secrets that may be endangering her recovery. The title refers to the drugs prescribed for Dora; at least one comes with a "black box" warning, meaning that the person taking it is at increased risk for suicide and needs to be watched closely--traditionally, Lena's job in the family. An expert use of metaphor, combined with sympathetic insight into the impact of depression on families, turns a painful subject into a standout novel. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Sisters Dora and Elena had been as close as "right and left hands laced tight together," but temperamentally they were completely different; Dora was the "storm on the horizon," while Elena was "the needle that always pointed to steady." When Dora begins suffering from a depression so profound that she becomes suicidal, Elena, who is starting a new school and lacks social support, puts her own life on hold as she struggles with the impossible task of trying to save another. Elena's one friend and sounding board is the boy down the street, a nonconformist with a devastating secret, and their oddball, off-center dialogue is the high point of this heartrending novel. As Dora's condition worsens, Elena is forced to choose between competing loyalties. Fittingly, the novel doesn't resolve neatly; although it ends on a note of healing and hope, its strength is in the way it allows readers to see the messy, ugly complexities of mental illness and witness the collateral damage it wreaks on the entire family. (Fiction. 12 & up) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Elena and her older sister Dora are opposites Elena is quiet and stoic; Dora is funny and unpredictable but they are still best friends. After Dora is hospitalized for depression, Elena can't understand why she didn't confide in her. While her parents spend their nights arguing, Elena does her best to deal, finally striking up a quirky relationship with the school bad boy, Jimmy, who says his older brother went through the same thing. Dora returns from the hospital a different person, one who skips class, hoards her pills, and lies to her parents. Elena can't reconcile this new sister with the one she's always known, especially when glimpses of the old Dora surface, but she's determined to save her, even if that means taking responsibility for Dora upon herself. Schumacher beautifully conveys Elena's loneliness and guilt as she tries to protect her sister without betraying her, as well as the emotional release she experiences upon finding someone to trust with her own feelings. The spare prose is loaded with small, revealing details of the relationships that surround Elena and how they change through Dora's illness. This novel is a quick read, but it will leave a lasting and ultimately hopeful impression.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2008 Booklist