Christina Kilbourne

Back at her childhood home in Muskoka helping her father clean the house after her mother's death, Nan finds a letter from her mother's birth mother. Thus she discovers that her mother is "Chippewa", as people said in the 20th century. She's startled to learn that half her background was hidden all her life, and she and her two young sons strive to relate to their "new" identity. The only classmate she remembers as being indigenous was also of Ojibwa extraction with a Norwegian father. From this point on the story has three points of view and four threads, which the author adroitly weaves together: Nan in the present, with her elderly father and her sons, answers her children's questions and sorts through her mother's belongings; Nan as a schoolgirl in the past as the story slips from reminiscences with her sons to the immediacy of her experiences; Gunner, Nan's classmate, in the present, remembering his childhood; Hamar, Gunner's father, escaping from Nazi-occupied Norway to join the Air Force in Canada. The stories are well-paced and complement each other. The book seemed to end a little too abruptly without pulling some of the loose ends together. Sometimes life is like that too.… (más)

Spoilers

If you saw 14 year old Harbour Mandrayke and her dog Tuff Stuff on the street, you’d assume they were homeless, but she’d quickly tell you that they were, just waiting for her father to sail into Ashbridges Bay piloting their 36 foot sailboat, Starlight.
With the days passing by quicker and quicker, her food dwindling and her credit card declined Harbour starts to feel rumblings in her self conscious that maybe something has happened to her dad.
There’s nothing she can do except continue to wait, try to avoid the pitfalls of living outdoors in Toronto and hope that her gut feeling is incorrect and her dad will show up eventually.… (más)

4.5 stars.

Detached by Christina Kilbourne is an informative and insightful portrait of depression and suicidal ideation that I HIGHLY recommend to readers of all ages.

Sixteen year old Anna is an amazingly gifted artist, but she has never quite felt like she fit into her life. She is intelligent and thriving at her elite art school. Anna has a loving family and although her circle of friends is small, she is well-liked by everyone. However, following her grandparents' deaths, the inner void she has always felt widens while at the same time, she begins to feel even more disconnected from her emotions, friends, family and life in general. The first hint of trouble first appears in her unsettling but magnificent painting of a bridge that has been the scene of several suicides over the years. Anna's obsession with the bridge finally wanes, but unfortunately, her thoughts of ending of her life do not. Despite several subtle warning signs that everyone finds easy enough to explain away, no one realizes how desperate Anna's situation is until it is nearly too late.

Initially, it is surprisingly easy for Anna to hide her feelings of hopelessness and despair from everyone around her. She covers up and explains away inconsistencies whenever anyone questions some of her actions, but there are subtle hints that her brother Joe and her closest friend Aliyah pick up on. However, they believe her explanations and occasionally grow irritated with some of her decisions and excuses. Anna is increasingly overwhelmed with dark thoughts and she eventually becomes consumed with the overpowering need to take her life.

Aliyah is well aware that something is off with her friend, but she fluctuates between annoyance and concern over Anna's increasingly out of character behavior. The deeper Anna sinks into despair, the more worried Aliyah becomes, but she never considers depression as a reason for her friend's actions. She does become alarmed enough to bring up her concerns about Anna with their friends, but amidst everyone's reassurances that their friend is ok, she drops the subject. Aliyah is the first to realize that something is drastically wrong the final time Anna tries to commit suicide and her reactions in the aftermath are realistically portrayed.

Although Anna's parents are well aware their daughter is acting out of character, it is easy to assume that this is typical teenage behavior. Anna's father is frequently out of town for business but he too notices differences that he briefly questions but then chalks up to changing interests now she is growing up. Anna's relationship with her mom is not particularly close and after her grandmother's death, her mom is reluctant to do or say anything that might upset their precarious bond. In the aftermath of Anna's overdose, startling revelations about her grandmother illustrate why it is so essential to de-stigmatize mental illness and openly and honestly discuss these issues.

Written from three very distinct points of view, Detached offers a thought-provoking and well-rounded perspective of the effects that depression and suicide have on the patient, family and friends. Christina Kilbourne's sensitive approach to this difficult subject is quite candid and enlightening. The depiction of Anna's struggles with depression and suicidal ideation is heartbreakingly honest and the novel's conclusion is surprisingly upbeat and positive. I highly encourage readers of all ages to pick a copy of this riveting young adult novel that provides a poignant and educational portrayal of depression and suicidal thoughts.
… (más)