Walking on Glass

January 29, 2007
A teen's free-verse journal reveals his raw emotions and pain, leading up to the decision to pull his mother's life support machines. "Wires force life into a body/ left hanging/ like a marionette," he writes. Through the entries, the unnamed narrator reveals that he was not always the most likable kid (e.g., with his friend Jack, whom his mother did not like, he beats up a peer and steals his shoes), and he must live with the fact that if "I would have come home/ five minutes earlier," he might have prevented his mother's suicide attempt. The author credibly traces the gradual changes in the teen. During the six months his mother has been on life support, his feelings of guilt torment him. "I should have told her/ I loved her./ Maybe then/ she wouldn't be/ in the hospital/ today." When the doctor explains that there is no hope, "They ask if would/ consent/ to have the machines/ shut down/ and donate/ Mom's organs." But the man says, "I can't let go yet." The narrator struggles with guilt ("The thought of my own mother/ dying/ shouldn't leave the taste of/ freedom/ in my mouth"), yet he's also ready to move forward. Never preachy, Fullerton's well-written first novel may well spark discussion about the ethics of withdrawing life support, and the meaning of the word "life." Ages 14-up.

April 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-In diary form, with minimal free verse, Fullerton tells the story of a young man's struggle to cope with his mother's suicide attempt, which has left her on life support. The framework is that he is writing a journal for the therapist he is seeing. From the beginning, teens will be drawn into the unnamed narrator's turmoil and experience the roller coaster of emotionsguilt, anger, love, anxietyright along with him. Fullerton deals with the very challenging topic of euthanasia in a sensitive and respectful manner. She elicits empathy for the teen coming to grips with a father overwhelmed by the situation and slowly taking responsibility for his own actions. This is a quick yet powerful read with an authentic teen voice. Recommend books written by Sonya Sones, such as "Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy" (HarperCollins, 1999), to readers who ask for more."Sheilah Kosco, Bastrop Public Library, TX"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2006
A young man's mother lies in a coma in a hospital ward. Should the tubes be disconnected? Would that be murder, or would it be setting her free? His dad says he cannot let her go. In spare, fast-moving, very simple free verse, the teen's journal entries evoke the boy's guilt, anger, and love. It's gradually revealed that the mother attempted suicide; the psychiatrist says she was depressed and would not take her medications. Is her son to blame? Is it guilt that makes him break with his brutal gang leader, as his mother always wanted him to do? The tension builds as the boy gradually confronts the horrifying memory of what happened when he found her and his own feelings. The complex, contemporary debate is always in the background, and what the boy decides is the climax of the story. This small book will take barely an hour to read, but the moral issues it raises are haunting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)