The Burn Journals

Title: The Burn Journals
Author: Brent Runyon
Publisher: New York : Vintage (2004)
ISBN: 1400096421 9781400096428
Pages: 374
Characters: Brent Runyon, Mom, Dad, Craig, various doctors and nurses
Bookmarks: 5

One day after an incident at school Brent Runyon comes home and attempts to light himself on fire. He immediately regrets it and puts himself out. Brent spends the next several months in the burn unit recovering. Some parts of his recovery are pretty normal- watching TV, fantasizing about sex, talking about movies. Other parts are more harrowing- having to see psychologists, get skin grafts, physical therapy. Once out of the unit, he must adjust back to being in the real world and having his scars. He must recover both physically and emotionally. Yes, some of what Runyon does during recovery like listening to tapes, watching movies on a VCR, playing Nintendo (especially Mario Brothers) may be a bit dated to teen readers, but it doesn't take away from his story.

I had heard a lot of great review about this book and was excited to Runyon has done an amazing job. The detail and emotional involvement of the book sucked me in immediately. Runyon's descriptions of how he felt through the whole experience, physically and emotionally are incredible. The book is completely gripping. One of the few books emotionally powerful enough to make me have to put it down at times because I couldn't handle what was going on. I can't imagine putting into writing for anyone to read hardly any of the experience of my life, especially not something as traumatic and life-changing as a suicide attempt. While I would love for any teen to read this book, I am afraid that some parts of it may glamorize Runyon's experiences- getting free stuff from Magic Johnson and meeting celebrities. Overall though, it is a great book.