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) This is similar in style to
Go Ask Alice, edited by Beatrice Sparks. A girl of 19 moves away from her alcoholic mother, gets a job as a topless dancer, and become addicted to heroin. Which she dies at the hands of, as well. There is also a story of a failed romance, which sparks the ending overdose.
The story was easy to read and was written like a journal. From the quote printed on the back cover, it sounds like the author was once a heroin addict herself. Though this was obviously not her story. I finished the whole thing within 3 hours or so.
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) "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." (pg. 1) A 'classic' line, though I personally have never heard it before this book. This guy, on the other hand, Howard Dully, had survived a lobotomy he was given at 12 years old. And he didn't become a vegetable, or a complete robot. So then his 'evil' stepmother, as she can somewhat be legitimately called in this case, sent him away to insane asylums and jail. He was labeled and became a victim of his 'role' and his operation most of his life. Then he decided to tell his story.
How many people do you know that have undergone lobotomies? I don't know any. The stats are scary, the procedure is scary, and how long it was allowed to go on: scary.
The author did his research thoroughly on everything he wrote about. His memory lapses, family, the area he's from, his doctor, and of course lobotomies themselves. He skillfully puts himself all on the table; first for the NPR audience. It's moving.
Dr. Freeman, Dully's and many other individuals' lobotomist, drove around in a "lobotomobile" where he would tour the country giving lobotomies from tools he made himself. Even an electroshock device that was said to be falling apart. There are many other odd, disturbing facts Dully notes about the mental health and juvenile justice system at that time. It's an eye-opening read. But I listened to it on audio book so I don't have as many great quotes that sample the writing as I usually do.
"He began doing lobotomies in his office. He stretched the patients out on a table, knocked them out using electroshock, punctured the skull using his Uline ice pick, [through the upper eye socket,] and swung the ice pick back and forth across their frontal lobes. He waited for the bleeding to stop, then sent the patient home, sometimes in a taxi cab." (pg. ?)
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) This is the world as seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old female, Haitian refugee. She pours herself into her class work and deals with the typical issues of bullying and popularity at school. The catch is that she has far more threatening, secret experiences in her past that she is dealing with. Since then, her only ways of coping have been to quietly damage herself and shut her mouth. Only the surprise appearance of her trustworthy uncle brings anything out, and only then does she start to realize her independence and own will!
Reading stories told from less-common immigrant perspectives are always a joy. This book does that and more by revealing some of the horrors refugees have to live with in their pasts. It's witty, insightful, and personal. Definitely a very enriching, thought-provoking read!
Won the Golden Kite Award
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) This is similar in style to Go Ask Alice, edited by Beatrice Sparks. A girl of 19 moves away from her alcoholic mother, gets a job as a topless dancer, and become addicted to heroin. Which she dies at the hands of, as well. There is also a story of a failed romance, which sparks the ending overdose.
