Sometimes Life Sucks

Gr 7—10—Through a series of vignettes, Carlile offers advice on to how to cope with loss. The discussions concern death in all its forms—young and old, sick and healthy, accidental, sudden, and expected. The author uses stories about specific circumstances to explain the feelings one sometimes encounters—guilt, sadness, disorientation, helplessness, etc. A former palliative-care nurse and counselor, she uses quotes from young people to demonstrate to readers that they are never alone in these circumstances, and the insights they share are helpful and encouraging. In addition, each chapter contains sidebars that give constructive steps to understand and address their grief. This book clearly and repeatedly tells readers that death enters everyone's life in unwanted and unexpected ways and that they should reach out to others to help deal with its effects. Although the writing is fairly straightforward, American kids may be stymied by many of the Australian terms and all of the help sites listed at the back of the book are Australian based.—Joanne K. Cecere, Monroe-Woodbury High School, Central Valley, NY