MMGM: My Life in the Fish Tank by Barbara Dee

 

On the first day of school, the four Manning kids line up for their Annual Kid Photo, just like always. But by November, things were no longer "just like always" when the family gets a phone call that college student Gabriel Manning is in the hospital after having a car accident. Not only that, but Gabriel has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and his siblings - Scarlett, 16, Zinia called Zinny, 12, and Aiden, 8, are asked to keep it private.

After he is transferred from the hospital to a residential care facility,  it doesn't take long for Gabriel and his diagnosis to take over the lives of all the Mannings. Mom takes a leave of absence from her teaching job and spends her time on the phone dealing with Gabriel's situation. Dad begins staying at work longer and longer, rarely even eating dinner with his family. Scarlett's moodiness increases, pushing Zinny out of her life and the often out the room they share, and Aiden becomes obsessed with the How To project his teacher has assigned his class. And Zinny, who has a real interest in marine biology, begins to hang out in the lab with her science teacher, Ms. Molina, during lunch as her relationship with friends Maisie and Kailani begins to deteriorate because she refuses to talk to them about Gabriel. 

When Zinny is invited to join the Lunch Club held by the guidance counselor, Mr. Patrick, Maisie is adamant that she not go, but Zinny decides to go just once. Then, Ms. Molina tells Maisie she can only hang out and set up the fish tanks for the class crayfish study if she also goes to Lunch Club. Once her friendship with Maisie and Kailani ends, Zinny figures why not? There, she discovers that she isn't the only one with family troubles, problems and issues. And slowly, Zinny even begins to become friends with some of the Lunch Club kids while still keeping Gabriel's bipolar diagnosis a secret. 

Meanwhile, things at home aren't much better. Zinny finally takes things into her own hands and begins to buy groceries and make dinner for her family. She also tries to help Aiden with his How To project by leaving humorous suggestions for him, but he can't decide what to do and the teacher rejects his most outlandish suggestions. 

The Mannings occasionally visit Gabriel as a family, but Scarlett refuses to go. Then Zinny discovers that Scarlett is seeing a counselor and has told friends about Grabriel's bipolar diagnosis. In the middle of all this, Ms. Molina recommends Zinny for a place in a competitive camp to do marine biology research for four weeks - all expenses paid. 

There is a lot happening here, including Zinny that worries, understandable so, that she might also be bipolar. Can the people in her life, including her new friends in Lunch Club and Mr. Patrick, help Zinny move on with her life without feeling like she is betraying Gabriel?

My Life in the Fish Tank is a family story that looks at how mental illness is not just about the person with the diagnosis, but impacts the family in all ways. I liked that it was narrated by Zinny, whom I thought old enough to observe what she sees and feels, but young and inexperienced enough to not always understand it all. 

I thought Dee really captured the way the Manning parents shut down. So often when something like mental illness happens within a family, parents seem to forget they have other children who still need them. Zinny's parents are clearly depressed and kudos to Scarlett for getting her mother to go to counseling. It is interesting how quickly the family becomes isolated from friends and neighbors, and then from each other, even though they are all concerned and worried about Gabriel. Should people be open about mental illness when it happens to a family member? Each family must decide that for themselves. Family dynamics differ and what may be ok for one may not be for another family.

I particularly likes Dee's treatment of time. It does seem that when bad things happen, time does funny things. As Zinny says: "...one thing you notice, when those bad things happen, is that calendars and clocks stop making any sense...It was like, after it happened, we were in a different time zone from everybody else." And Zinny's narration does jump back and forth in time, as she recalls different times she observed Gabriel's bipolar behavior - times when he was feeling on top of the world and taking dangerous risks, other times when he was depressed and sleeping too much. 

Barbara Dee really knows how to handle some very difficult topics, like sexual abuse (Maybe He Just Likes You) and mental illness, but in the end, she always offers hope to the reader that when life turns you upside down, with help, you can turn right side up again.  

You can find an excellent reading guide for My Life in the Fish Tank HERE 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was an eARC gratefully received from the author.

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, 

now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.

Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

A novel about a father's mental illness and a daughter's desperate desire to take care of him, even as she wonders who will take care of her.

Since the day after she was born and her mother took off and left, it has always been just Fig and her dad. Fig's dad, Tim Arnold, had once been a celebrated musician/composer in New York City, but now he and Fig live on the Jersey shore. Though her dad loves Fig very much, he is subject to mood swings and erratic behavior. And attracted to the shoreline whenever there is a violent storm or hurricane, something that really scares Fig. But when he shows up at school looking for her, confused and disheveled, her teacher Miss Williams calls Child Protection and Permanency, or CP&P, and now they will be making visits to make sure Fig is safe and taken care of.

When a September hurricane rolls in, and her dad heads to the shore, Fig asks their new neighbor Mark Finzi, a construction worker, to help her find and bring him home. And it doesn't take long for Mark to become part of their lives, much to Fig's chagrin. The last thing she needs is someone knowing how things are at home.

Meanwhile, Miss Williams assigns Fig's class an art project to be displayed at the Fall Festival. Fig decides to research Vincent van Gogh, and learns that he had the same kind of erratic behavior as her dad, and soon begins to think of herself as her dad's Theo, van Gogh's brother. But it is Mark who gets him to a doctor, where he is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and Mark who keeps her dad on his medication. But when her dad shows up at a Halloween party looking for Fig, it becomes clear that adjusting the medication will take time to get it just right.

Tim and Mark have been spending more and more time together, even as Fig's dad makes good progress, but when she walks in on a more-than-just-friends moment between the two men, she has more than a difficult time accepting their new relationship - but not for the reasons you might expect. Fig feels jealous that Mark is becoming the new Theo to her dad's van Gogh, a notion that her dad clearly rejects with a resounding "I'm not van Gogh," and she feels somewhat betrayed by her dad - why would he agree to doctors and medication for Mark, but not for Fig?

Everything comes crashing down on Fig when a hurricane approaches and she decides to try to experience it the way her dad always did - but luckily, Mark is a physically strong man. This does bring things to a head, and there is a somewhat happy ending to Fig's story, but with the caveat that mental illness can't be cured but it can be controlled, and help is never far away, if one is willing to ask for it.

When I started reading, I had expected a story about surviving a hurricane and I guess on some level that is exactly what I got. And I have to admit that the thing that drew me to this novel was the cover. It did remind me of van Gogh's Starry Night because of the bold swirls in the sky and the one swirl that looks like the sun setting. While I read I noticed that all the chapter titles cleverly refer to the names of van Gogh's paintings - and yes, I knew some but not all, so I looked them up.

For a middle grade novel, Hurricane Season has a lot going on in it. There's dad's mental illness and the difficulty of getting him into treatment and then determining what works best for him; there's his relationship with Mike, neither one of which ever had romantic feelings for men before; there's Fig's constant worry about her dad and her fear of being separated from him by CP&P; and there's Fig's own emerging sexuality. And then there are the hurricanes.

But Melleby deftly deals with everything she throws Fig's way so that the reader feels like it all unfolds organically. And she presents Tim Arnold's bipolar disorder as it is experienced by Fig in all its chaotic, scary reality - days of depression and staying in bed followed by manic days. And Fig's resentful reaction when people finally try to help - well-meaning Miss Williams, best friend Danny, the CP&P caseworker, and most of all, Mark.

But slowly, the reader sees Fig come to terms with the fact that she is just too young to deal with her father's mental illness, that the best she can do is love him and be there, that she is still a child and need to be one - to go to parties, to have crushes, to enjoy school and her friends - a gift she gets from Mark.

Hurricane Season is a difficult book to read at times but it is a book that kids will want to read if mental illness has ever touched their family, other kids will find themselves feeling empathy for Fig and all she has to deal with.

Hurricane Season is a deeply emotional story and I can't recommend it highly enough.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was an ARC received from the publisher, Algonquin Young Readers

#Cybils 2015 Finalist Review: Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy by Sarah Vaught

Dealing with a mother who has bipolar disorder isn't always easy for Fontana "Footer" Davis, 11, especially when she goes off her meds and ends up in a mental hospital.  Which is exactly what happens after she kills a copperhead with a big-game hunting gun.  To help her cope, Footer enlists her best friend, Peavine Jones, and his younger sister Angel, to carry out an investigation into the fire that burned a neighboring farm to the ground, who shot and killed   Mr. Abrams, the farmer, and what happened to his two grandchildren, Cissy, 12, and Doc, 6, who have been missing ever since.

There seems to be two things going on in this novel - one is Footer's coping with her mother's bipolar disorder which results in her hospitalization whenever she goes off her medication and Footer's fears about her own mental health. the other is the investigation by Footer and her friends, Peavine and Angel, into the death of unfriendly neighbor Mr. Abrams, the fire that totally destroyed his house and his missing grandchildren Cissy and Doc.

To complicate matters, Footer is beginning to have olfactory hallucinations.  At first, she only smells the smoke of the Abrams fire, but as they begin to get stronger and she can smell fire and blood as well.  But when Footer begins to see things that happened at the Abrams farm the night of the fire, she isn't sure if she is crazy and having visual hallucinations, or if her visions could possibly be a flashback, in which case, she and Peavine really needed to solve the mystery surrounding the Abrams farm.  Especially since her own mother is part of the vision or was she really there and why?

To make matter even more complicated, Footer seems to have taken up sleep eating - raiding the refrigerator and pantry without even remembering it.  But without gaining any weight considering the volume of food her seems to be consuming.

If all these disparate things tie together, will all of Footer's worst fears turn out to be true?

Footer Davis is Probably Crazy is  mainly told in the first person by Footer, with the inclusion of school assignments that she relates to what is happening in her life, and notebook entries of interviews with various people - some suspects, most not - conducted by Footer, Peavine and even Angel.  I really liked the mystery part of the story since it seems to me to be the kind of thing an 11 year old could really get into.

The story is well written, well plotted, but I did have a few problems with the novel...

I felt that, with the exception of Footer, most of the characters didn't really have much depth.  They were there only to as props for Footer's story, even Peavine, who had more depth then most of the others, including Footer's mom.  Same with Footer's concerned teacher, Ms. Malone, and the social worker from the Department of Child Services, Stephanie Bridges.

I also wondered why it was necessary for Peavine to have cerebral palsy since it didn't really figure into the story. In fact, it's actually only mentioned once as the explanation for how Fontana became Footer.

And I wondered by Footer's mom was bipolar.  Was it to get rid of her? Or could it be a plausible explanation for Footer's hallucinations and questioning her own sanity in light of some of the events surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Abrams children, in which case it would just be a plot device.

And yet, oddly enough, despite these criticisms, I very much enjoyed reading Footer Davis is Probably Crazy and would recommend it to middle graders looking for a contemporary mystery.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Cameron and the Girls by Edward Averett

Cameron and the Girls is one of those rare books I chose to read without knowing anything at all about it - I was simply attracted to the cover and the title.  I expected the story to be about a boy torn between two girls - and it is, but not in the way you would think.

Cameron Galloway is a 14 year old boy in the Emotionally Disturbed Program at the local junior high school.  He has been living with schizophreiform for a while now, which is an acute form of schizophrenia that cause temporary breaks with reality rather than the constant break that occurs with chronic schizophrenia.  When a psychotic episode does occur, Cameron hears the voice of the 'educated and knowledgeable' Professor.  But Cam is supposed to take his meds everyday and as long as does that he has, no problems but he also has no feelings, no emotions, no voices.

So Cam stops taking his meds and now it has been 5 or 6 days and the comforting, familiar voice of the Professor has returned, but now so has another voice - the young, flattering voice that Cam calls the Girl.  No girl has ever paid attention to Cam before and the Girl makes him feel good.  But no sooner does the Girl come into his life, then another girl, Nina, does too.  Nina is a new girl in his EDP (Emotionally Disturbed Program) class who suffers from depression and her mother's neglect.

Nina talks Cam in skipping school and going to the convenience store near her home.  They begins talking and he finds himself oddly drawn to Nina.  But as they get to know each other better, another voice comes along - the Other Guy.  The Other Guy is dangerous, he taunts Cameron to be more of a man, to take what he wants, to take risks and behave in cruel ways.  And the Other Guy begins to drown out the voice of the Professor and the Girl.

As Cam sinks into his hallucinations, Nina sinks into her depression, finally attempting suicide.  Cam is the one who knows her the best, but will he be able to help the real girl in his life?

Cameron and the Girls is told from the first person point of view.  This is refreshing because most novels about a young person with a mental illness are written from the point of view of a narrator on the outside looking in.  But Edward Averett is a skillful clinical psychologist who knows how to take his readers into the mind of this young boy and really let them experience his life from the inside of Cam's head.  Sometimes it is hard to understand that a person who hears voices in their head doesn't experience them as imaginary, but to people like Cam the voices they hear are real and so they respond to them as though they are a real presence.  And yet, Cam knows his has schizophreniform.

Cam's story is at time funny, sad, disturbing heartbreaking and hopeful but it is always compelling.  It is a coming of age story with a twist.  Cam is not trying to find out who he is but he rather trying to make his own decisions about leading his life instead of having those decisions made from him by someone else.  For most kids, making decisions about their lives is a maturation step that just comes naturally.

Cameron and the Girls is wonderful novel for that will leave a strong impression on all readers.

This book is recommended for readers age 14+
This book was purchased for my personal library

Three Little Words by Sarah N. Harvey

From the Publisher:
Sixteen-year-old Sid barely remembers his birth mother and has no idea who his father was.  Raised on an idyllic island by loving foster parents, Sid would be content to stay there forever, drawing, riding his bike, hanging out with his friend Chloe and helping out with Fariza, a newly arrived foster child.  But when a stranger named Phil arrives on the island with disturbing news about his birth family - including a troubled younger brother - Sid leaves all that is familiar to help find the sibling he didn't know existed.

What he discovers is a family fractured by mental illness, but also united by strong bonds of love and compassion.  As Sid searches for his brother, gets to know his grandmother, and worries about meeting his biological mother, he realizes that there will never be a simple answer to the question, Am I my brother's keeper?

My Thoughts:
Veteran Canadian writer Sarah N. Harvey writes on her website that some of the characters in Three Little Words were invited into this novel from her first piece of fiction (a work she says was not very good.)  And I am glad they came over, whichever ones they are, because they have obviously made this one of the best books I have read this year.

Gentle, patient Sid was raised in the calm, loving world of Megan and Caleb on a fishing island in British Vancouver.  He is also an artist who has been recording the world around him for years, filling up sketchbook after sketchbook.  Megan and Caleb have been taking in foster children all Sid's life, but he has stayed the longest and considers them his parents, and they think of him as their son.

Fariza, 8, their newest foster child, a terrified and traumatized African Canadian child who refuses to speak to anyone.  Sid knows he can ask what happened to her, but respects her too much to pry like that.

Gawain, or Wain, Sid's 13 year old stepbrother, whom he never knew existed, is part African Canadian, but unlike Fariza, he is very angry and very vocal about it.

Three Little Words is written in the third person from Sid's point of view, though sometimes the narrator gets a little omniscient and lets the readers know what is inside another character's head.  I like the way, for all he is a good, kind, patient, gentle person, Sid still has mixed or negative feelings about his biological mother, her abandonment of him and being pulled back into her world.  But, on a positive note, you can see the influence of Megan and Caleb in his actions and thoughts.  He worries sometimes that maybe he could end up like his manic-depressive mother, and some of this novel does beg the question of nature or nurture.

I thought that the portrayal of the relationships within the triangle of wounded children is really what makes this such a good book, though.  Harvey has captured Sid's mixed feelings what is happening, Fariza's fear of men and Wain's anger at the world and especially Side to the point of being palpable.  But she has also captured the kind of compassion that makes healing possible.

One hint: the title, Three Little Words, weren't what I thought and probably not what you think either, but pay attention to the chapter titles.

This is a wonderful YA novel that is able to make a strong impact on the reader and I would highly recommend it to anyone who might enjoy a realistic contemporary novel.

This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was obtained from the publisher.