Award winning YA author, Elizabeth Acevedo, is a bright shining light in teen literature. With relatable characters, believable and engaging plots, and plenty of inconvenient topics, her books never fail to deliver. Anger Is Only A Shadow is a perfect example.
When readers meet Lil, Acevedo's narrator, she's locked in a juvenile facility, waiting for a hearing that will determine whether she'll be released. It's not her first time there.
"I haven't cried. Even though I know this time is worse than the last time. This time I might get time. Might get time taken away from me. Might be removed from home, from all I know, from our family."
One thing you need to know about Lil--she's very good at making very bad decisions. Those decisions get her in a world of trouble. She gets so focused on getting what she wants that she doesn't see that she's setting herself up for consequences until her actions are irreversible. She's impulsive to a fault, a victim of her urges.
"And sometimes, when you're from a hood, even if your parents both got jobs, and pay the bills, and you go to a school where your teachers knew your brother and your parents before him, you might still get caught up. You might have urges inside you that ain't got a clear name, that got their own heat and heart, and they flare up and unmake your raising."
When the urges involve actions like shoplifting or joyrides law enforcement gets involved.
Lil is lucky this time. She's released to her parents' custody with court ordered supervision and an ankle monitor. Her lawyer warns her that she's skating on thin ice. The ankle monitor is showing a lack of trust. The judge won't go easy a third time. When she's eighteen that could mean adult sentencing.
Her lawyer tells her, "I can't pull off another miracle. Put your head down. Try your best in school. Make some new friends. Follow the rules your case manager sets. Join a club. Get an after-school job. Stop hanging out with girls that drag you into trouble."
You know that Lil is going to get into trouble before her court hearing three and a half weeks away. Ironically this time it's not due to impulsivity and lack of self control, but to love and loyalty. Her beloved brother, Aldwin, is away at college. She'd been alarmed by his behaviors over the summer. Now he's posting all kinds of conspiracy theories and behaving in ways that put him in real danger. Lil is seeing all kinds of red flags. But the adults aren't taking her seriously or doing enough to get him help. Her father says it's just normal developmental pains.
Lil knows it isn't. She knows that she'll be in deep trouble if she tries to rescue Aldwin. But whatever she goes through will be worth not losing him. Her passion and unique voice will get readers to empathize and really care.
Acevedo has personally experienced having a relative with schizophrenia. In Anger Is Only A Shadow she brings up some serious questions. "How do we support loved ones who have illnesses that are not easily treated? How do we allow dignity and value to humans who make choices out of sync with societal norms? What does it mean to find alternate and holistic forms of care and repair alongside the options offered by traditional medicine?"
To which I would add how do we remove the stigma that prevents so many people from seeking help? How do we make help accessible to people without privilege and power? How do we make help culturally relevant in our increasingly diverse population? We do not talk nearly enough about mental health in our society. Anger Is Only A Shadow has the potential to help catalyze important and necessary conversations.
On a purrrsonal note, I am a poster adult for the importance of counseling. I needed help after my father died, coping with pandemic isolation, and learning to cope with anxiety. My father, on the other hand, had no help coping with what was probably bipolar which cost him his job and his family and quality of life and fueled his later alcoholism.
A great big shout out goes out to UMaine's dedicated professionals who run its Counseling Center and Student Wellness office so compassionately and effectively and their colleagues in other higher education institutions.
Jules Hathaway
