Young Adult Literature without Apology
Amy's assessment of contemporary young adult literature, organized by author and title, censored by noone.
Realistic | Romance | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery
Runyon, Brent (2004). The Burn Journals. NY: Knopf. 384 pages. ISBN: 0375826211.
In February of 1991, Brent Runyon, a depressed junior high student living in suburban Washington D.C., decided to kill himself. Although he had tried ending his life before, his methods were met with little success; this time, however, he had a plan he believed to be failsafe: he was going to set himself on fire. Runyon's autobiographical novel details the suicide attempt and the following year Brent spent in hospitals and rehabilitation, painfully trying to heal his nearly destroyed body.It's hard to believe Brent survived this suicide attempt and even harder to believe that little time is spent in this novel delving into the psychological reasons behind his most dangerous "stunt". The novel is, indeed, rather harrowing; however, the coverage seems a bit narrow and, by the end, I feel neither sympathy nor understanding for the narrator. The obvious booktalk hook involves reading the well-publicized self-immolation passage.
