Raw Reality of Survivor's Guilt and Self-Mutilation in Willow

Hoban, Julia. Willow. Dial Books, 2009. Tr. $16.99 ISBN 978-0-8037-3356-5

What’s it about?

Willow Randall has terrible guilt for the accident that killed her parents, and secretly numbs her pain by cutting herself. Enter Guy, who cares deeply for Willow—and is the only person who knows her secret.  

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Willow is a compelling look inside the mind of a tormented 17 year old who is trying to cope with a life-altering tragedy. A year ago, her parents hand her the keys after they drank too much wine at dinner. The heavy rain is too much for an inexperienced driver with just a learner’s permit to handle, and a horrific accident takes the lives of Willow’s parents. Physically, Willow is unharmed. Mentally, she is torn apart by her guilt and grief, thinking of herself as a killer. She moves in with her older brother, David, a college professor with a wife and baby. Instead of turning to each other for support, the siblings each deal with their grief separately. Unable to cope with the horror of the accident, and the strained relationship with David, Willow cuts herself with razor blades. Then Willow meets Guy, a sweet boy who shares her interest in anthropology and obscure books. Guy is perceptive, and discovers her secret. He is understandably horrified, but because he cares for Willow, he tries to help her.  Willow is eventually able to reach a turning point, and begins to deal with her grief instead of numbing it out with self-mutilation.  

Hand Willow to readers of problem novels.  This is a helpful book to recommend to tweens and teens grades 7 and up who have dealt with self-mutilation or have friends or family members struggling with this problem. This is also a good choice to hand someone dealing with survivor guilt. I’d be careful to assess the maturity level of a potential reader before recommending this title to someone on the younger end; this is a painful subject, and a Hoban doesn’t sanitize the ugliness of cutting and the horror of Willow’s grief.  Hoban does a good job of conveying the seriousness of this problem, and the reader will empathize with her extreme coping mechanism. There is way too much that occurs in Willow’s thoughts, however, which are distractingly conveyed in third person present tense. The complex relationship Willow has with her brother is so realistically portrayed, it makes up for the sometimes unconvincing romance between Guy and Willow.  It is hard to believe that Willow would open up so much to Guy so quickly, and Guy really seemed more like a therapist than a boyfriend. At the same time, it does make sense that a meaningful relationship is be one of the catalysts Willows needs to deal with her bottled-up grief. 

Genre label: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Problem Novel, Romance

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 7 & up

At the library I work at, I was initially surprised by the popularity of this book with older pre-teens and young teens. Sadly, this topic may speak personally to more kids in this age group than adults would imagine.  

Read-alikes:

Patricia McCormick’s Cut

Cheryl Rainfield’s Scars

Gayle Forman’s If I Stay

Hannah Moskowitz’s Break

Subjects/themes: Cutting, Guilt, Death, Accidents, Relationships, Grieving, Orphans, Secrets, Survivor Guilt

Character name/descriptions:

Willow—Troubled protagonist, cuts herself to numb the pain of her involvement in the deaths of her parents

David—Willow’s older brother, a college professor and her guardian

Guy—Willow’s love interest and the only person who knows about her cutting

  

The Clique: Trendy and One Dimensional

 The Clique by Lisi Harrison, 2004. New York: Little Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316701297

What’s it about?

Massie Block, the leader of The Clique at her exclusive private school, has it all—beauty, popularity, wealth. . .  And she wants to keep it that way.

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12-year-old archetypal mean girl Massie Block is the Queen Bee of The Clique at Octavian Country Day School (OCD), a private girls school in Westchester New York.  Most students are the offspring of the ultra-rich. Claire Lyons, the daughter of one of Massie’s father’s friends is not; her family is staying in the Block guesthouse while they get situated. Claire is ridiculed by Massie from day 1 because her clothes are not expensive. Massie is so threatened by Claire’s existence that she constantly belittles her, sends snide text messages to her friends about her, and devises cruel pranks.  Matters get worse when Claire’s new friend Layne’s brother, Chris Abely, turns out to be Massie’s obsession. Massie schemes to take Layne away as a friend to get closer to Chris, while Claire begins to act uncharacteristically mean herself. She sneaks into Massie’s room and pretends to be her while messaging Massie’s friends Dylan, Alicia and Kristen, who are manipulated into turning on Massie. This depiction of junior high cattiness redeems itself a smidge when Massie and Claire bond at a party—because they are hiding from their embarrassing parents.

This book is trendy, meaning that although it is popular now, it will be quickly dated. There is very little to like about this predictable plot and even less to like about the characters, save for Claire Lyons.  With the other characters, the reader may get glimpses of humanity, but mostly, the Clique members are grating, selfish little brats. The characters are pretty one-dimensional, although Massie seemed to show an inkling of ability to change at the end of the book.  Escapist fiction like this is transitory, and not likely to stay in print for more than 10-15 years—or until the next big series hits the shelves. What makes it appealing, I think, is that it demands very little from the reader. It’s sheer entertainment. Some people wanted nothing more than diversion from the books they choose. Reading a book like this is not hard work, nor is it a hard sell, thanks to good branding, marketing and packaging.  If nothing else, these books have hooked many otherwise reluctant readers into recreational reading.  

This is not a book that keeps me up at night, but I wanted to find out why this series is so popular. Most adults I know roll their eyes at the mere mention of these books, but only handful have actually read them. It bothers me when people criticize books they’ve never read. I know they hate the idea of the book, but I’d hardly trust a review of something when the reviewer admits they haven’t done their homework. I suspected The Clique was a trendy, shallow, forgettable book about rich, bratty kids, and my suspicions were confirmed.

Genre label:  Contemporary realistic fiction, chick-lit, friendship fiction (although this book is more about how not to treat your friends)

 Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Ages 10-14

Read-alikes: The Clique series has been said to be A Gossip Girl read-alike for a slightly younger crowd. Other similar titles include the Secrets of my Hollywood Life series by Jen Calonita, the A-List series by Zoey Dean, Private by Kate Brian, and Haters by Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez.

Related TV and film: Mean Girls is film that is strikingly similar to The Clique—Mean Girl Regina is Massie, and Claire is Cady. Although Mean Girls is by no means deep, it is far better than The Clique. Fans of The Clique will also enjoy the CW’s Gossip Girl and 90210 (although, in my opinion, these shows are inappropriate for  the age group targeted by The Clique series).  An older show that reminds me of The Clique is The O.C.    

Subjects/themes: Popularity, cliques, wealth, social classes, friendship, bullying

Awards: 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (YALSA)

Series information:

#2 Best Friends for Never (2004)

#3 Revenge of the Wannabees (2005)

#4 Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (2005)

#5 The Pretty Committee Strikes Back (2006)

#6 Dial L for Loser (2006)

#7 It’s Not Easy Being Mean (2007)

#8 Sealed with a Diss (2007)

#9 Bratfest at Tiffany’s (2008)

#10 P.S. I Loathe You (2009)

#11 Boys Are Us (2009)

#12 The Clique: Charmed and Dangerous (2009)

#13 These Boots Were Made for Stalking (2010)

#14 My Little Phony (2010)

#15 A Tale of Two Pretties (2011)

Related series:

 The Clique Summer Collection:

#1 Massie (2008)

#2 Dylan (2008)

#3 Alicia (2008)

#4 Kristen (2008)

#5 Claire (2008)

Character name/descriptions:

Massie Block—the Queen Bee of The Clique

Kristen Gregory—a smart girl with a sharp tongue who is desperate to hide the fact that she is a scholarship student

Alicia Rivera—beautiful and jealous of Massie’s role in The Clique

Dylan Marvil—Massie’s yes-man

Claire Lyons—Comes from a normal middle-class family in Florida, making her a Clique outcast. Claire is staying in Massie’s parent’s guesthouse while her parents get settled.  

Chris Abely—the object of Massie’s affection