I have just finished this one "Friends for Life" by Andrew Norriss, who has been one of my favourite go-to authors for light and humourous reads. Loved "Control-Z", loved "The Unluckiest Boy in the World". Sarah, at Vancouver Kidsbooks, put this one in my hands and said it was not like his others and a warning that it had mature content. I was intrigued and read it right away.
To say it is mature is right. It deals with students who do not fit in, who feel different and who sometimes feel like there is no future for them.
This journey begins with Francis who is such a student. With a passion for sewing doll's clothes and fashion he is indeed marginalized. As he sits on a bench outside of his school, alone and isolated, a girl wanders right up to sit beside him. This is the beginning of a very different friendship, for you see this girl is a ghost. Jessica has been wandering for a year and is amazed that Frances can actually see her. Frances is taken with her gentleness and support. The two form a very special bond. To this mix add 2 other characters who also do not fit in the standard mold, who are also outsiders but who also can see Jessica; Andi who has violent tendencies and who has been expelled from her previous school and Roland who uses food as his crutch and is overweight. Their connection is strong and gives them a new found confidence in themselves and their dark thoughts and fears slowly evaporate. Until it is discovered that Jessica has killed herself. Why is she still here wandering? Why is it she is drawn back to the hospital? Is it because there is someone else who needs her?
I love this book for the way it deals with the intense feelings of being alone and left out. Everyone needs to feel accepted. People say and do things with little understanding of the impact they are having. People need to have more empathy and to think before they speak.
I think that this book could initiate limitless conversations about all of these topics for older readers.
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