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Rating: 
Summary: An accurate look at the effect of mental illness on a child
Review: Kara Biggs lives by lists. She has a list of rules, instructions, tips, etc. for almost everything you can imagine. From avoiding doing an oral presentation to getting ready for school, Kara knows how to it all "like a real person." Want to know Kara's tips for avoiding having a family conference at school?1) Say that your parents are away on a business trip. 2) Or say that your grandmother just died, and now really isn't a very good time for your teacher to call home. You can use this excuse twice, and twice only. Keep track. 3) Or say that your phone is out of order, but you will deliver the message. (Yeah, right). Kara has her lists down to a science. She has to, or people might find out about her home life. Kara's mother suffers from mental illness. Most days her mother stays in bed with the curtains closed and the covers up over her head. Kara's mom has been like this for almost as long as Kara can remember. She has her good days as well as her bad, but ever since Kara's father left them, it has only been one bad day after another. Kara tries her best to take care of her mom and to keep everything looking normal. When her lists don't work, Kara retreats in her mind to "Lonely Island," a place based on her favorite book, "Island of the Blue Dolphins." But sometimes even that doesn't help. She knows that eventually her mother will get past this, but when? Cracks in Kara's carefully constructed façade are beginning to show and people are starting to get suspicious. What if they find out? What will happen then? Told over the time frame of one day, this engrossing novel delves truthfully into the reality of a child whose parent suffers from mental illness. The author does an excellent job of conveying Kara's conflicting emotions concerning her mother and the situation she is in. As a reader you not only sympathize with Kara for all that she is going through, but also admire her for the strength she has to deal with everything that is thrown at her. Strongly recommended for EVERYONE.
Rating:
Summary: An accurate look at the effect of mental illness on a child
Review: Kara Biggs lives by lists. She has a list of rules, instructions, tips, etc. for almost everything you can imagine. From avoiding doing an oral presentation to getting ready for school, Kara knows how to it all "like a real person." Want to know Kara's tips for avoiding having a family conference at school? 1) Say that your parents are away on a business trip. 2) Or say that your grandmother just died, and now really isn't a very good time for your teacher to call home. You can use this excuse twice, and twice only. Keep track. 3) Or say that your phone is out of order, but you will deliver the message. (Yeah, right). Kara has her lists down to a science. She has to, or people might find out about her home life. Kara's mother suffers from mental illness. Most days her mother stays in bed with the curtains closed and the covers up over her head. Kara's mom has been like this for almost as long as Kara can remember. She has her good days as well as her bad, but ever since Kara's father left them, it has only been one bad day after another. Kara tries her best to take care of her mom and to keep everything looking normal. When her lists don't work, Kara retreats in her mind to "Lonely Island," a place based on her favorite book, "Island of the Blue Dolphins." But sometimes even that doesn't help. She knows that eventually her mother will get past this, but when? Cracks in Kara's carefully constructed façade are beginning to show and people are starting to get suspicious. What if they find out? What will happen then? Told over the time frame of one day, this engrossing novel delves truthfully into the reality of a child whose parent suffers from mental illness. The author does an excellent job of conveying Kara's conflicting emotions concerning her mother and the situation she is in. As a reader you not only sympathize with Kara for all that she is going through, but also admire her for the strength she has to deal with everything that is thrown at her. Strongly recommended for EVERYONE.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome!
Review: Kara was an ordinary girl, that is when she was 10. Things have changed since then. Her fathers moved, her moms "crazy". She dreams about an island that she could live on.
Rating:
Summary: Felt like I knew what it was like
Review: My parents are not mentally ill, but after reading this book, I felt like I knew what it was like. Sally Warner writes a riviting story about a teen girl trying to keep it all together; trying to take care of her mother; and trying to keep it all her own business. I think this book would also be great for parents suffering through paranoia and depression to see what their kids really go through.
Rating:
Summary: Felt like I knew what it was like
Review: My parents are not mentally ill, but after reading this book, I felt like I knew what it was like. Sally Warner writes a riviting story about a teen girl trying to keep it all together; trying to take care of her mother; and trying to keep it all her own business. I think this book would also be great for parents suffering through paranoia and depression to see what their kids really go through.
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