Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this story eludes to a young teen girl engaging in sexual activities with boys, and she also has a more innocent sexual encounter with a girl. An older sister mentally and physically abuses her sibling, but while the scenes are tense, most are brief and there are no graphic descriptions. There are also mentions of a teen drinking beer and an alcoholic father abusing his wife. Use of curse words is minimal, and the worst words are twisted in form (such as "frucking"). The main character suffers the trauma of losing her mother at a young age and witnessing her older sister's sudden death.
Families can discuss Em's troubled family life. Why do you think Em ran away from home with her abusive sister Pamela? Why do you think Pamela was so mean to Em sometimes? What does it mean when someone is said to have a mental illness? How was Em able to survive such awful circumstances? Do you think Em loved Pamela, and what do you think the future holds for Em? Families can use this story as a starting point for discussing and researching mental illness and abuse.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Ellen Dendy
Award-winning author Norma Fox Mazer chronicles 18-year-old Em Thurkill's struggle to survive a troubled life in this gritty story. Mazer employs first-person narrative to perfection by exposing Em's thoughts, which swing from memories of the past to her present situation, and are occasionally shattered by the angry voice of a third party -- Em's dead sister Pamela.
Flashbacks switch seamlessly to the present and back again as Em's life slowly unfolds, and each page seems to answer one question while forming a new one. Mazer sucks us into the story quickly and never lets us go until the very end. We want and need to read on so we can find out what went on back then, and what's going on now.
This story is raw and only rarely sentimental -- just what we'd expect from a guarded teen who has battled tough odds her entire life. The softest aspect of the story is Em's heartbreaking fixation on mother figures -- from Oprah to perfect strangers, Em fervently tries to fill a void. Yet Mazer's bare prose doesn't inhibit her ability to paint a rich portrait of Em's character -- in the end we feel like we know her well enough to truly care about her and to root for her in her quest to reach a happier place in the end.
From The Book
I didn't believe Pamela would ever die. She was too big, too mad, too furious for anything so shabby and easy as death. And for a few moments as she lay on the floor that day, I thought it was one of her jokes. The playing-dead joke. I thought that at any moment she would spring up, seize me by the hair, and drag me around the room. It wouldn't be the first time, but this time it would be deserved, my own fault, the way she always said it was. Punishment for standing there, for watching her, for letting it happen.
Plot Summary:
When her older sister Pamela dies from a stroke, Em Thurkill finds herself completely alone in the world. Not that life hasn't already been tough for the 18-year-old. Em has endured years of mental and physical abuse from Pamela, their frail mother died years earlier and -- thanks to Pamela -- she has no idea where her father and stepmother are or if they're even still alive.
After spending the last few years taking care of Pamela (a promise she made to her beloved mother), Em must now find the strength to create a "normal" life for herself -- something she's never known and isn't quite sure how to approach.
Related Books:
Other Books by Norma Fox Mazer about Teens:
Missing Pieces
Silver
Girlhearts
After the Rain
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Sexual ContentTeen sex is implied but not described in detail. Two girls (best friends) kiss and fondle each other's breasts in a very brief scene. |
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ViolenceA teen is physically and emotionally abused by her unstable older sister. While the younger sister's flashbacks of abuse are not overly graphic, they're quite powerful because she describes the abuse in a stark, "just the facts" manner. Non-graphic descriptions of an alcoholic husband beating his wife. |
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LanguageVariations on curse words: "frucking," "faresehole," and "sheeeeet." These words are used outright: "damn," "bitch," "hell," "crap," "screw," "ass," "piss." |
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Social BehaviorAn unstable teenager is mentally and physically abusive to her younger sister, but her actions are not condoned. This character also steals money, drinks a beer, curses, and convinces her younger sister to run away from home. To survive her troubled family life, the younger sister turns to sex as a means of escape but eventually realizes it's not worth it and stops. Despite terrible odds, the younger sister relies on her inner strength (and her hope for a better future) in order to survive. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoA teenager drinks a beer; references to an alcoholic father. |
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