A story that will pluck at your heart-strings, even as you realise you’re being shamelessly manipulated.
I’ve only read The Program by Suzanne Young, and this strikes me as something of a departure in subject matter – though the need to get you rooting for a character who’s struggling is there in spades.
In this story we focus on Savannah, a young girl dealing with things anybody would find tough. Her younger brother – who she has a strong bond with – has some kind of developmental disorder which causes untold difficulties. Her mother has left them, and her father blames Evan for this. He has descended into alcoholism, neglecting his children and basically acting like someone who has given up. It is up to Savannah to deal with the day-to-day things, and to try to prevent her younger brother being sent to live with their aunt.
The background to the story would be tough for anyone, but Savannah has been sent to a special school for troubled teens after stabbing her boyfriend with a pencil when he mocked Evan. Here she’s judged on her previous actions and nobody is prepared to look beyond the label she is given.
Savannah and her friends are the kind of kids who are labelled as trouble, and who slip through the cracks because nobody cares. Yet they all exhibit amazing qualities, and a resilience that is admirable. Of course, it also means that when things reach their inevitable conclusion we feel it is all desperately unfair and are hoping for someone to come in and save the day. If only…
After finishing this I did feel as if I was in pieces. This was brutal. Suzanne Young introduces us to these messed-up teenagers, makes us see beyond the judgement…and then throws everything at them. No matter what they have to endure they get up, and keep going.
This made me so sad in many ways. The adults, and some of the kids, were awful. Then you get a good one.
I was blinking away tears by the end. Very emotional.