a helpful musicality

I love Jason Reynolds. Now ...  
I love him even more.

mental health matters

This week I read Madness by Zac Brewer.

It's a brutal look at depression, mental health, recovery, and hope.

The Author's Note comes at the front of the book. It advises:

If, as you are reading this book, you find yourself experiencing symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts, please seek help. You are not alone. And you can recover.

This book starts dark but explores depression, self harm, and suicide in a way that is important for young adults.

Brooke Danvers is 17 and recovering from a suicide attempt. She has just spent six weeks as a patient in Kingsdale Hospital, being watched, getting therapy, and having people constantly make sure she is doing better so that she can go home. Brooke has been suffering from depression for a very long time. She thinks that the one way she can escape her suffering is to end her own life.

Brooke's best friend is Duckie. He is hands down one of the best BFFs I've read. When RIP is written on Brooke's locker in black Sharpie, Duckie had the graffiti removed.

"It doesn't matter, Duckie. They'll just do it again anyway."Duckie leaned against the lockers and brushed a pink strand from my eyes. "It does matter. Because you're a person, not a headline ... or a punch line."

The information listed in the front of the book is an important resource for teens:

For more information on depression and how to get help, visit the Youth Resources page of the American Academy of Childhood and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). There you'll find information on finding the right care for yourself, how to recognize depression in others, and what you can do to help someone in crisis. www.aacap.org 

For further educational resources - as well as inspirational stories of recovery - visit To Write Love on Her Arms. TWLOHA is a nonprofit movement dedicated to finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. www.twloha.com 

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline exists to provide immediate assistance to individuals in suicidal crisis by connecting them to the nearest available suicide prevention and mental health service provider through a toll free number. 1-800-273-TALK (8255)  

If you are in immediate crisis, dial 911The world is a better place with you in it.

Also check out Crisis Text Line.  www.crisistextline.org
Get free help by texting CONNECT to 741741 in the United States. You can text anytime from anywhere in the USA about any type of crisis. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and lets you know that they are here to listen.

Kindness connects to who you are

Have you heard that every day by David Levithan is going to be a movie?
Here's a look at the trailer:

When I read this book back in 2012, this was the quote I loved most:

I no longer think she's just being nice. She's being kind. Which is much more a sign of character than mere niceness. Kindness connects to who you are, while niceness connects to how you want to be seen. 

This is page one. Be sure to read the book before you see the movie.

And, remember: love is love is love is love...

Love, Simon

Simon Vs The HomoSapiens Agenda

From GoodReads:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. 

This is a great book! It is the perfect book for teens to start the new year with.

I wanted to read Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda for a while, but I just haven't found the time. Then I saw that it will soon be coming out as a movie... so I made a point to read it over the holiday break. I'm so glad I did.

Love, Simon...