Fig

Starred review from March 2, 2015
In a novel rich with metaphors, newcomer Schantz explores the tender, heartwrenching relationship between a schizophrenic mother and her highly gifted daughter. The book, which spans 15 years, begins when Fiona (aka Fig), then age six, first witnesses her mother’s delusional behavior. During her mother’s subsequent decline and long stays in hospitals and institutions, Fig practices various rituals and self-destructive acts, believing her sacrifices will restore her mother’s sanity. Meanwhile Fig’s patient, hardworking father tries to maintain a sense of normalcy but is plagued by worries. He relies heavily on his mother, who wants to turn Fig into a proper young lady, and his brother, who understands Fig in ways no one else can, to help with Fig’s upbringing while he farms the land. The beautiful and remote rural setting underscores Fig’s isolation among classmates who view her family as strange and her joy during fleeting moments when her mother appears to be cured. Readers will get a strong sense of the powerful bond of love between parents and child as Fig’s family strives to navigate the quagmire of mental illness. Ages 14–up. Agent: Heather Schroder, Compass Talent.

February 1, 2015
A girl grows from 6 to 18 on a Kansas farm, methodically trying to fix her mother's mental illness.Explaining that "today," on her 19th birthday, she'll "finish a story that must be told," Fig holds her breath, crosses her fingers and opens the tale in 1982, when she's 6. Fig's idyllic farm life changes on the day Mama makes them race home from an unseen terror outdoors. Mama thinks a dingo chased them, but Fig remembers a television program about that infamous Australian murder trial and begins to doubt Mama's grip on reality. Mama has schizophrenia; Fig has an extremely high IQ, an unshakeable commitment to her mother and a reliance on magical thinking. She also suffers from OCD and a compulsion to self-injure. If she follows her calendar of self-punishing rituals, she can cure Mama. Fig's narration epitomizes showing without telling. From wildflowers to animals to the blooming blood of her self-inflicted injuries, everything Fig describes is wildly poetic and tender. Schantz's exquisite prose brims with nature, blood, literary references and intense emotional silence. Unfortunately, a structural letdown seriously weakens the ending: Despite the opening frame's promise, full of gravitas, of a story that would reach Fig's critical 19th birthday, her story stops at age 18 1/2 with no hint of what the next six months might bring. Achingly gorgeous, with a baffling end. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 14-18)

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January 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Fig is six years old and spends a lot of time worrying about her mother, Annie. Her mother talks of fairy land, feral dogs lurking in the woods, and the importance of rituals. It is only after her mother attempts suicide that Fig learns the truth: her mother is schizophrenic. The story unfolds over the next 11 years, detailing the many ways Annie's schizophrenia changes her and affects her family. Through it all, Fig remains determined to save her mother. She begins sacrificing trinkets, thinking this will somehow make her mother get well. She also sacrifices her own needs and creates a Calendar of Ordeals, dictating what she must refrain from each day. The teen exhibits many troubling behaviors and is eventually diagnosed with OCD, but her health is overlooked as the focus remains on her increasingly unwell mother. Fig is often left in the care of her icy grandmother and has no support system. When her uncle catches her cutting herself, she is relieved that someone finally sees her and will hold her accountable, but Fig never stops thinking she can save her mother. This beautifully written story is a painful look at mental illness. An element of fantasy weaves throughout the narrative, with Annie's tenuous grip on reality and Fig's magical thinking, and references to fairy tales, The Wizard of Oz, and Alice in Wonderland abound. This dense, literary tale starts slowly, but builds to become an incredibly haunting story about mental illness and family bonds.-Amanda MacGregor, formerly at Apollo High School Library, St. Cloud, MN

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 One day while Fig is having a picnic with her mother on their Kansas farm, Mama runs back into the house, terrified that they're being chased by dingoes. The police politely listen as Mama explains what happened, but there's no mistaking what's really going on. Fig's mother is schizophrenic and having a psychotic break. Mama doesn't get much betterafter a suicide attempt, she is sent to a psych ward, and it won't be the last time. Fig is only six when her mother is sent away, and she gradually begins to believe that it's her own fault. Her mother's illness is often scary, and to cope, Fig begins self-harming and devises a series of ordeals, which, if she completes them correctly, she believes will cure her mother. In a breathy first-person narrative, Fig tells the story of her mother's disintegration, from loving parent to eerie, mad stranger. Though some readers may be frustrated by the meandering pace of Fig's story, patient readers who appreciate melancholic, lyrical narratives will likely be moved by Fig's heartbreaking tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)