Willow by Julia Hoban

Another book from the Teen Reads list. This one is an all "girl" book. The central character is Willow, a 16 year old who cuts herself to deal with the emotional devastation following the death of her parents in an automobile accident when she was the driver. Although the accident was not her fault, she carries a lot of guilt. Hoban repeats a lot of the same thoughts in her characterization of Willow, a tactic I found to be annoying. However, teen readers might need the repeated reminder of how Willow feels and what Willow thinks, especially if they only read small pieces of the book at a time. I am unsure how cutting yourself gives the emotional release that Willow seems to find in the act, and I am equally unsure that the perfect love of a perfect boyfriend (like the one in this story) can bring emotional stability to a girl with some of the issues that Willow has. As I understand the story, Willow doesn't even give up cutting, even though her life is supposed to have "turned around" at the end of the book. I was also disappointed that Willow's positive turning point was when she decided to sleep with her boyfriend. That just gets me started on my old complaint that YA books are filled with teens having sex and adults being blockheads. Not every problem can be solved by sleeping with the "perfect" boy at age 16. And there are a lot of adults who can help.