Lessons From a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles

/ Tracy Abell

I read this book a couple months ago but couldn’t bring myself to blog about it.  Why?  Because the subject matter was so difficult for me.  Here’s the summary:  “After her former friend Leah dies in an automobile accident, Laine remembers their troubled relationship, dating back to elementary school when Leah convinced Laine to ‘practice’ in the closet with her, and Leah controlled her every thought.”

Even though I never had a Leah in my life, at least not that exact model, I’ve known and experienced Laine’s fear and confusion at the hands of supposed friends.  It’s a horrible place to be.  And Jo Knowles’s spare and deliberate storytelling took me right back there.  There is no way I could have finished reading such a painful story if it hadn’t been written so well; I was practically looking for an excuse to put down the book.  

From page 66:  When we get back to the house, Leah acts especially cheerful, urging everyone to have a second piece of birthday cake.  She makes sure Paige has a seat next to her.  Later we climb into sleeping bags spread out on Leah’s bedroom floor.  Leah puts Paige’s sleeping bag next to hers before I can spread mine there.  This is it, I think.  Paige is the new me.  Maybe I should be relieved.

Typing out those words just now made my heart pound as I remembered the conflicting feelings I’ve had for friends/tormentors in my own life.   Your head tells you one thing, your heart another, and pretty soon you don’t know up from down.

Knowles does a superb job of putting us in Laine’s head, sharing all those tipping moments when she could have (should have?) stepped away and escaped the hurt.  But no matter how loud I yelled for Laine to run the other way, it didn’t matter.  Because this was Laine and Leah’s story, not mine.   Life’s lessons are learned in many different ways.

Congratulations to the courageous 

[info]jbknowles

 for wading into those lives and writing Laine’s story so that it felt like my own.    

                        

15 thoughts on “Lessons From a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles”

  2. I read this a couple weeks ago, and while it is intense and hard to read, I’m glad it’s available to kids who may be subjected to abuse.
    Great to see you, Tracy! Hope you had a wonderful holiday. 🙂

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    • I absolutely agree, Lorraine, that it’s a good thing this book is there for kids trying to sort through friendships. As I said to Laurie, I sure could have used it.
      Happy Solstice to you!

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  3. I read this a couple weeks ago, and while it is intense and hard to read, I’m glad it’s available to kids who may be subjected to abuse.

    Great to see you, Tracy! Hope you had a wonderful holiday. 🙂

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  4. I haven’t been able to bring myself to read this yet…perhaps in part because I don’t want to admit that such dangers exist. I saw them, from a distance, but I think I was enough of a ‘touch-me-not’ (emotionally as well) that I kept most predators away. But I worry about my kiddos (who doesn’t, I suppose).

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    • I understand your hesitation because it’s certainly tough. But as I wrote, Jo writes so convincingly that I was compelled to keep reading.
      I’m glad you weren’t touched by any of that ugliness and I hope the same for your children.

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  8. I absolutely agree, Lorraine, that it’s a good thing this book is there for kids trying to sort through friendships. As I said to Laurie, I sure could have used it.

    Happy Solstice to you!

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  9. I understand your hesitation because it’s certainly tough. But as I wrote, Jo writes so convincingly that I was compelled to keep reading.

    I’m glad you weren’t touched by any of that ugliness and I hope the same for your children.

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