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.

I.D. Stuff that Happes to Define Us

Title: I.D. Stuff that Happens to Define Us
Author: Kate Scowen and Peter Mitchell
Publisher: Toronto : Annick Press (2010)
ISBN: 9781554512249 1554512247 9781554512256 1554512255
Pages: 160
Characters: N/A
Bookmarks: 4

We all have moments in our lives that help to define us, to make us who we are. Many of these happen during adolescence. I.D. Stuff that Defines us is a compilation of 12 episodes from the lives of real teens. Each of the stories is about a defining moment in their life- getting hit by a father, getting in a street fight, pretending to be an orphan, a youth camping trip. Each story is presented along with wistful illustrations.

I loved this book. It was really interesting to read about defining moments for real people and how they coped with them. It would be an excellent book for teens to read and I can see it being especially useful for guidance to use. Teens today have to deal with a lot of tough things- this book has stories of real people living through many of the same things that teens today have to live through. It can give teens insights into how to cope themselves. I especially loved that at the end was a listing of phone numbers and website for teens to call if they need help.