Parents need to know that this story can be intense and disturbing as it follows a teenage girl's experiences in a mental hospital in the early 1950s. It describes her fantasy world, throwing the reader into her distorted version of reality. Patients can be violent, abusive, and full of self-loathing. The main character was bullied as a child for being Jewish; there are several harsh examples of anti-Semitism. Note, however, that unlike some recent memoirs, readers will not find graphic descriptions of a horrific childhood here.
Positive messages:Deborah and the other patients make cutting comments and harass hospital attendants. Children bully Deborah and call her a "dirty Jew." At camp, an instructor says Hitler was doing a good thing to get rid of the "garbage people." Deborah steals from other children at camp. She believes that she is poisonous and will contaminate other people. Deborah and other former patients are ostracized by the community.
Violence:Deborah tries to commit suicide; a hospital attendant kills himself. The patients act violently, fighting with the staff and throwing beds or tables; one hits Deborah with a plate of food. The patients are tied into a "pack," bound tightly with sheets so they cannot move. Deborah jokes that her "potential for callousness" qualifies her for a career as a "professional assassin." Deborah burns herself with cigarettes, causing wounds that are difficult to treat.
Sex:Deborah's roommate believes she is the secret first wife of the King of England, who is being held in a House of Prostitution by his enemies. She tells Deborah she is "raped every night" and later calls Deborah a "little whore." She tells Deborah a doctor "violated" her while she was held immobile. There is a reference to patients "masturbating incontinently in public."