Where You'll Find Me

Where You'll Find Me

YA fiction
"I used to think your friends were your friends no matter what,
but that's not how it works. There is elementary school, and then
there is middle school, where all the rules change and no one tells
you how to play and the only thing you know for sure is that you are
losing. Everything about you is wrong: your hair, your personality,
your jeans."
Anna, protagonist of Natasha Friend's Where You'll Find Me, has
a lot more to cope with than most of her peers.
To start with there's her mom, a school psychologist with an
advanced degree in clinical psych. Anna was the one who discovered
her mother unconscious from a suicide attempt and called for an
ambulance. Now she has no idea how long Mom will be in the hospital
or what she will be like when she gets out. She can't trust that when
her mother does get out she won't try again.
Isn't the parent the one who's supposed to protect the child?
While her mother is out of the picture Anna is stuck living with
her father, his very young second wife, and their baby.
"...She has photos of her sorority sisters taped to the mirror
in her bathroom. She has yoga pants with paw prints on the butt, a
big stuffed tiger on her marital bed. My father doesn't even care..."
Things aren't better at school. Her newly popular best friend
from kindergarten on no longer wants to be seen with her.
So how does a 13-year-old cope and maybe even thrive in the face
of all this trauma and drama. Read this most excellent coming of age
novel and see for yourself.
On a personal note, this past weekend I volunteered two days at the
LGBTQ and multicultural services table at UMaine orientation. I saw a
wide variety of incoming students ranging from the kids who looked
ready to take on the world to those who looked stunned by the upcoming
transition. I want to get a masters in higher education student
services because I want to be present for the students who will need
me. I can't think of a vocation I would rather pursue.
A great big shout out goes out to the UMaine Class of 2020.
jules hathaway


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