Schizophrenia is at the center of A BLUE SO DARK. Aura has grown up surrounded by the disease. She never knew her grandfather who suffered from the condition, and because her mother also developed the disease, Aura lives in fear that she will someday become schizophrenic as well.
For the last three years high school student Aura has been her mother's primary care-giver. Despite memories of her parents' deep love for one another, Aura's father finally gave up on his wife and left her for someone younger and healthier. Aura can't believe he simply dismissed them for his new life with only the advice that Aura should be sure to keep giving her mother her meds.
Unfortunately, Aura didn't heed his advice. When Grace begged her daughter to throw away her medications, Aura agreed. Since then it has been a downhill slide for the mentally ill woman. With her best friend involved in her own personal issues and her father busy with his new wife and child, Aura's support system has collapsed. Watching her mother suffer one episode after another, Aura final realizes things are beyond her control.
There is one last person who might be able to provide the help Aura desperately needs, but does she have the nerve to seek out that help? All she knows is that her own descent into schizophrenia is her greatest fear.
Debut Holly Schindler takes readers into the world of the mentally ill. Through her main character, Schindler presents a realistic and frightening view of a disease that takes a devastating toll on the individual and his/her loved ones. Schindler shows great promise as a contributor in the area of young adult fiction.
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