How to Be a Real Person
| Average rating |
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3.3 out of 5
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| Based on 41 Ratings and 14 Reviews |
Book Description
"When I was ten years old, everything was just right--for a while. I mean it, things were almost perfect." Two years later, things are not so perfect for Kara. Her father has moved out and her mother's mental illness has worsened. Kara believes that as long as no one (including her father) finds out about her mother's condition, everything will be all right. School is more and more diffi...
More"When I was ten years old, everything was just right--for a while. I mean it, things were almost perfect." Two years later, things are not so perfect for Kara. Her father has moved out and her mother's mental illness has worsened. Kara believes that as long as no one (including her father) finds out about her mother's condition, everything will be all right. School is more and more difficult, as Kara struggles to pretend she's normal--a "real person." Retreating to the Lonely Island of her imagination, based on her favorite book, Island of the Blue Dolphins, is one of Kara's only ways to cope with this tremendous burden. In spite of her fear of discovery, it's only when she's finally forced to relinquish control of the situation that Kara can stop pretending and truly become real again.
Sally Warner's first-person narrative captures the vivid agony of living with (and loving) someone with a debilitating mental illness. Readers will be startled to come to the end of the novel and realize the entire drama has unfolded in just one day (with revealing flashbacks to chronicle life leading up to this particular Thursday). Warner's sixth-grade narrator, who has enough to worry about just getting through her adolescent years, seems almost numb with fear. Kara's poignant, desperate efforts to control her life by making lists of how to behave at home and at school are portrayed with eloquence and great sensitivity. (Ages 10 to 14) --Emilie Coulter
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