Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

After a terrorist attack kills Dani's aunt and unborn cousin, life in Argentina- private school, a boyfriend, a loving family- crumbles quickly. In order to escape a country that is sinking under their feet, Dani and her family move to the United States. It's supposed to be a fresh start, but when you're living in a cramped apartment and going to high school where all the classes are in another language- and not everyone is friendly- life in America is not all it's cracked up to be. Dani misses her old friends, her life, Before.

But then Dani meets a boy named Jon, who isn't like all the other students. Through him, she becomes friends with Jessica, one of the popular girls, who is harboring a secret of her own. And then there's Brian, the boy who makes Dani's pulse race. In her new life, the one After, Dani learns how to heal and forgive. She finds the courage to say goodbye and allows herself to love and be loved again.

Review:

There's not an excellent enough word out there to describe just how amazing, touching, and beautifully written this novel is or how it pulls on your heart strings one second, having you close to tears, but at the next moment has you smiling with a slight giggle escaping from your mouth, your tears drying instantly like they weren't even there one second ago. Life, After is a book that touches on the important but sad parts of life- tragedies, terrorism, and coping; they are all there within the pages along with the happiest parts of life- love, friendship, strength, and hope.

Life, After is a novel told from the viewpoint of Dani, an Argentina teenager dealing with the after affects of The Crisis- a crisis that has left her dad jobless and desperate, her mother working constantly, trying to keep her family alive, and her friends, herself, and boyfriend defenseless against the grim future ahead of them. But soon enough comes a chance, a chance to start over in brand new country, and opportunities that will give them hope, even if it's definitely not an easy task in the long-run.

To me, Dani is an immensely strong teenager. One that not only serves as a role model because of the way she acts, but someone who I'm sure most readers could relate to, because who hasn't had a bad year because of a tragic event? Or maybe has started in a new country or place were they didn't no anyone? Or felt so broken to the point were they doubted they could never be fixed again? Or feel in love with a boy who made them smile in the best or worst of times? Or-well, you get the picture. I couldn't help but relate and root for Dani in the tragic and good parts of her life. I also adored reading about her blossoming romance with Brian and her friendship with Jessica, Jon, and Gaby; four people any girl would be lucky to have.

One of my favorite parts of this novel was the fact that Sarah had Argentina serve as the setting for part of it because I learned a great deal from Dani's experiences there, but I have to admit I would have loved to have had just a little more information and development into The Crisis there. Also, another favorite and interesting part was seeing Dani begin her new life in America. To someone like me who's so well adjusted in America because of the fact I've lived here my whole life, I sometimes forget how hard it is for immigrants to come and start over here. But Sarah showed a light into this, one that has made me greatly appreciate those immigrants who have worked so hard to get well-adjusted to their life here.

In all, Life, After is a book I highly suggest you pick on your next trip to the book store, because I pinkie-promise you, you won't regret it for one second after beginning this wonderful story of falling down and learning how to bloom and grow again. Lastly, this review wouldn't be complete if I didn't share my favorite line of the book, which I feel perfectly sums up the themes and purpose of this novel:

"Because with joy, we overcome the terror. With love, strength, and hope we prevail." (page 278)

Grade: A+

Life, After is now out!

Source: Publisher. Thanks Scholastic!

Purge by Sarah Darer Littman

Summary:

Janie Ryman hates throwing up. So why does she binge eat and then stick her fingers down her throat several times a day? That's what the doctors and psychiatrists at Golden Slopes hope to help her discover. But first Janie must survive everyday conflicts between the Barfers and the Starvers, attempts by the head psychiatrist to fish painful memories out of her emotional waters, and shifting friendships and alliances among the kids in the ward.

Review:

Purge is a well written book that grabs you from the first page and dosen't let you go till the very last word.

For some reason, I had been putting off reading this for a while now. I'm not sure why, but it probably it has something to do with Wintergirls. Since, while I loved that book with all my heart because of it's rawness and reality, it was all  the fiction I could take for a while dealing with eating disorders. Surprisingly, Purge tended to show a lighter tone to eating disorders. Though, with saying that, I'm not saying it wasn't serious, too, because it certainly was.

Moving on, it was interesting to see the different type of people contained in the psychotropic hospital where Janie was staying because they varied from being teen boys which you almost never see in these types of books to older women who for some reason I would never think go to these type of places to plain old teen girls. So, even though the story of a girl with an eating disorder is kind of unoriginal these days, Sarah exceeded to make it original by adding great characters to the mix. My favorite would probably be Janie because she was just a likable character who I felt was impossible not to root for. Also, I loved how we got to see her diary along with a regular narration because I felt that it showed two sides- her the vulnerable and messed up to the one that seems perfectly normal on the surface but truly isn't.

Also, Sarah's writing was well done, as mentioned above, and was easy to get caught up in. I'm looking forward to reading more by her!

In all, Purge is a read that I enjoyed and suggest to all who would like a look into the tragic world of eating disorders, while not going too in depth to the truly terrible side of it.
 
Grade: B+

Purge is now out!

Source: Publisher/ Author for review. Thanks Scholastic/ Sarah!

Inspired Friday with Sarah Darer Littman

Sarah Darer Littman is the author of Confessions of a Closet Catholic and the newly relased, Purge. You can vist her website here.

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I was suffering from a horrendous case of the "Second Book Blues" back in 2006, when I went to Kindling Words, a writing retreat for published authors and illustrators. Several ideas for my second book had already been rejected, and I was depressed and wondering if I was really meant to be a writer or if the success of my first book, CONFESSIONS OF A CLOSET CATHOLIC, was just a fluke. (Yes, authors are notoriously insecure!) Ellen Wittlinger (Marisol's Story, Hard Love) was leading the author strand that year, and her theme was "Inspiration". She asked us to bring photographs or pictures that inspired us.

My mother had been cleaning out her house and she'd found this picture ( said picture to the right) of me on a Caribbean holiday we took when I was about 14. I brought this photo to the workshop because it made me sad - sad because looking at it now I realize I had quite a nice figure but at the time I was convinced that I was fat. I wanted to write a book for the girl I was then, and for the girls - and guys - out there who feel the same way today.

I came away from Kindling Words knowing I had to write the book that eventually became PURGE. It wasn't what I was being told I should write, but it was the book I needed to write. I'd been showing my agent and editor things I was working on after I'd written a few chapters, but with this I decided to write the whole book before I showed anyone anything. I needed to be true to my process and let this book happen.

PURGE is a book about which I feel particularly passionate because I've suffered from body image issues my entire life, and was actively bulimic for many years as an adult. I've been in recovery for seven years now, and it's one of the most fulfilling things for me as an author has been when readers have written or come up to me and said how they were able to relate to Janie. I didn't want to sugar coat Janie's experiences and make it seem like recovery is simple and easy, because Lord knows it isn't, but PURGE is, ultimately, a hopeful book because recovery IS possible. I'm living proof of that.

If you want to learn more about getting help with eating disorders check out the resource page on my website: http://sarahdarerlittman.com/eating_disorder_resources.html

Thank you for letting me share my inspiration with you!

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Thanks so much, Sarah! :)