Black Box

Oh wow! How do you say, 'What a great book about depression!'? As the author says in her notes, depression is about shame and isolation. This book is about Dora, a teenager who suffers from depression and is hospitalized for it. It is also about Dora's parents and how they deal with her depression, but most of all it is about Elena, her sister, and how she hides her feelings from everyone, even herself. Luckily she has a friend named Jimmy who has some life experience with depression. What Julie Schumacher does in this book is to touch on the moments and the fleeting feelings and the vulnerability and fear that surround the topic of depression. She enables you to live in depression for a hundred or so pages. It's tough, and she's done a great job. Hand this book to any young person or family member struggling with this difficult life experience.