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A Really Awesome Mess

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A Really Awesome Mess

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Overview

Two teenagers. Two very bumpy roads taken that lead to Heartland Academy.

After his parents' divorce, Justin is on rocky mental ground. But when a handful of Tylenol lands him in the hospital, he has really hit rock bottom.

A scandalous photo of Emmy leads to vicious rumors around school, but things get worse when she threatens the boy who started it all on Facebook.

Justin and Emmy arrive at Heartland Academy, a reform school that will force them to deal with their issues. Along the way they will find a ragtag group of teens who are just as broken, stubborn, and full of sarcasm as themselves.

A funny, sad, and remarkable story, A Really Awesome Mess is a journey of friendship and self-discovery.

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606843642
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Lexile:	840L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Brendan Halpin is a teacher and the author of books for adults and young adults including the Alex Award–winning Donorboy, Forever Changes, and the Junior Library Guild Selection Shutout. He is also the coauthor of Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom, with Emily Franklin, and Notes from the Blender, with Trish Cook, both of which the American Library Association named to its Rainbow List. Halpin’s writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Rosie and Best Life magazines, and the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column. Halpin is a vegetarian, a fan of vintage horror movies, and an avid tabletop gamer. He lives with his wife, Suzanne, their three children, and their dog in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Gr 9 Up—Justin and Emmy have just been enrolled in Heartland Academy, a reform school in the Midwest. Both are convinced that they shouldn't be there. Emmy's in for Internet bullying-but the other guy started it. Justin swallowed 17 Tylenol and later experienced an unfortunate incident in which his dad walked in on a private moment between him and a girl he met at an amusement park. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Justin and Emmy are not reliable narrators and that there are much deeper issues at play. Emmy suffers from anorexia and thinks her parents regret adopting her from China. Justin is depressed and deals with his pain through anger and destructive behavior. The two befriend the other students in their anger-management group; together, they bond through high jinks, have breakthroughs, and make some progress to healing. The fellow group members are well drawn and fleshed out. Most use humor for deflection and coping, which turns what could be heavy material into an effective comedy. Many of the characters struggle with guilty feelings about being messed up even though their lives are, in fact, pretty okay, especially in light of the trauma some of them have been through. The time line is a bit compressed for the amount of character growth that Emmy, Justin, and their classmates go through, but the ride still packs an emotional punch that will resonate with many readers.—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

School Library Journal

"High school students Emmy and Justin meet at Heartland Academy, a therapeutic boarding school for kids with emotional problems. Emmy has an eating disorder and lacks self-esteem, while Justin battles depression and suicidal tendencies. They soon make a connection with each other while working out their emotional problems. With professional help, and the help of new found friends, both teenagers work through their struggles. It is a journey of self-discovery coupled with humorous teen antics, as well as overcoming personal obstacles. This book touches on relevant teen issues such as cyberbullying, adoption, eating disorders, anger problems, suicide, and depression. It offers hope to those who are facing some of these same issues. This realistic fiction has sexual themes and some profanity making it more suitable for older teens. Highly Recommended." —starred, Library Media Connection

From the Publisher

A group of teens at a live-in institution for troubled young people bond, pull off a caper and overcome their issues in an amusing but overly rosy two-narrator tale. Emmy, adopted from China by white parents, feels out of place and unwanted in her family. She is sent to Heartland Academy after retaliating against a tormentor at school, though readers will quickly come to understand that she also has an eating disorder. Justin, who resents his father's absence, comes to Heartland following a suicide attempt and after being caught receiving oral sex from a girl he met earlier that day. Both Emmy and Justin speak to readers with engaging degrees of sarcasm and emotional honesty, and the interactions between the two narrators and among the other members of their anger-management group provide both action and moments of comedy. Where the narrative missteps, however, is in the teens' speedy recoveries. A field trip leads the group to reveal to each other the roots of many of their issues, and the pact they make for the afternoon--the anorexic girl will eat; the compulsive liar will tell the truth; the girl with selective mutism will speak--is implausibly successful. Final revelations, both of which involve the teens' coming to understand or forgive their parents, read more like what adults wish Emmy and Justin would feel than what teens in their situation might actually experience. Funny and fast-moving--but too much of the healing rings hollow. (Fiction. 14-18)

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