The Memory of Light

 Shirley J.                       Juvenile Fiction                              Teenagers experiencing mental illnesses

The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork     352 pages

Vicky Cruz is still dealing with the after effects of losing her mother.  Plus her older sister who was her lifeline while going through their mutual grief has left for college.   Their father remarried soon after losing his wife as a way to buffer his feelings of grief rather than sharing their common sorrow at the family being torn.  It isn't that their new step-mother is awful it is just too much too fast to adjust to it all when in Vicki's heart there is only room for the tears she sheds for the loss of her mother.  Her Dad becomes distant and gets rid of all their mother's things, doesn't want to talk about her and takes out his jumbled anger, grief, angst on his youngest daughter.  He pushes her to do things, to stay busy, to excel when all she wants to do is hide from a cruel world where she is now all alone.  Her sister stays busy with her new friends and activities calling home less and less.  Their father measures Vicki's lack of accomplishments and lack of academic prowess against her sister who sounds perfect in his praise of her.   School is awful, a boy she doesn't have any feelings for keeps pressing her to be his girlfriend.  Her Dad keeps giving her attitude and wants to know what is wrong with her all the time and why wouldn't she appreciate the attentions of the nice boy practically forcing himself into her life when she doesn't want him and tells him so.   Her only friend is their Spanish housekeeper who loves Vicky and whom Vicky loves like the grandmother she never had.   The housekeeper is older and cannot meet the standards Vicky's Father and Step-Mother set so her father fires her and sends her away.  That is the final straw and Vicki tries to end her life.  She is discovered as she enters death's door and is pulled back into life and deposited in a mental hospital in a ward where there are other teenagers dealing with their own raging mental demons, from paranoia, to hearing voices, to coping with savior complexes, each teen has their own distinct struggle and Vicky is accepted into a group where she feels more alive than she ever has.   Dr. Desai works with the group and offers each a helping hand up from their terrors but, Vicki's Dad has his own agenda and does not want his daughter associating with psychopaths.  Chaos ensues.   A good story written by an author who has struggled with depression and speaks from a place of empathy and knowledge for the characters in this book.   I recommend this book to middle-schoolers on up.   An enjoyable read that will open the reader to the world of mental disorders and treatments both classical and unique in reaching those experiencing the traumas of brains that see the world everyone does but interprets it singularly.