Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Sunday, September 4, 2016

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

How I Heard About It:  During a search for a YA novel on my 3M Cloud Library App, I came across this title.  I remember seeing this title being written up in a few publications so thought I would download it and give it a shot.  

What It Is About:  Aysel is sixteen years old and full of pain.  She has a father that is in prison and a mother that has remarried with two children in her new marriage  Aysel feels she just doesn't fit in at home, school, or anywhere else.  While on a suicide website, she comes across a section where you can find a "partner" to help achieve your goal.  Even though she knows she wants to end her life, Aysel isn't sure she can do it alone.  Through the site she finds Roman and the two of them make an online connection.  After some online "chat, the two teenagers decide to meet and make their plans together.  Aysel isn't sure she wants to bring her online "life" and real life together, but feels she has no other option.  Slowly, Aysel and Roman get to know each other, share their stories, and decide how they will end their lives together.  They begin a countdown and each have "bucket list" items they want to complete.  

What I Thought Of It:  I know this may seem like a really heavy theme to read about, but for some reason it wasn't too dark of a story.  It actually had many aspects of hope.  I enjoyed getting to know each of these characters and learning about their back stories.  Both Aysel and Roman were realistic and portrayed what young people can face and endure in their young life.  The author did a beautiful job of showing their relationship grow bit by bit and how each of them opened up more and more to the other person.  They both truly needed a friend or person they could count on.  There were several surprised along the way and kept me guessing until the very end of the story.  

Who Should Read It:  This is definitely a mature-themed young adult novel.  In my opinion, the reader should be in high school and above.  Suicide is an important theme and the author handled it with grace, dignity, and thought.  Readers will take so much from this story.  I'm also thinking this makes for an excellent read for adults that enjoy young-adult novels.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars




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