The Greats

Gr 7 Up–Jomon wants to end it all. At 15, he has won a school competition and should be on cloud nine but instead, he ends up vandalizing a local business. A survivor of abuse at the hands of his father, he would rather stay in jail than give the officers his father’s name. Locked in a cell, he doesn’t feel like he has anything to live for anymore. Then he is visited by ghostly grandfathers. He argues that suicide is a way out of his pain, but quickly learns he will have to go through generations of men in his family to do so. This heartwrenching story highlights the effects of generations of mental illness and depression in one family. Grandfathers and great-grandfathers return to share their stories in hopes of imparting light on Jomon’s situation. Set against the beautiful landscape of Guyana and alternating between Jomon’s narrative and that of a prehistoric giant sloth, readers will learn how depression and loneliness affect families and can lead to regret. This novel highlights mental health issues that are sadly overlooked in society. Like the leak in the wall of Guyana’s national museum, “Covering up a problem only makes it worse.”