"Lost & Found" (Almost Lost: Anonymous Teenager - Beatrice Sparks)

Member Name: Trevor15

Product:	Almost Lost: Anonymous Teenager - Beatrice Sparks
Date:	24/06/01 (1191 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Informative, Educational

Disadvantages: It happened

"I don't want to feel anything, taste anything. . .or anything. I just want to. . .pull the plug. . .do the deed. . .get it over with. It's my candle. I should be able to blow it out if I want to."
This is how 15 year old Sammy's feelings about himself and his life were recorded when he entered Dr B's office.

'Almost Lost' recounts the therapy sessions between Sammy, his family and counsellor, therapy sessions that were divisive in bringing the teenager back from gangland warfare, drugs, theft and self-destruction.

As the sleeve of the book advises, Sammy eventually became the happy American teenager that he once was , but not without a very long battle and not without facing the buried demons which thrived on his misery, self-loathing, darkness and contempt. Over the months, Sammy and both his loving parents needed to face things that perhaps they would prefer to let rest: His father's acknowledgement that he had left the family because they weren't "good enough", his own subsequent descent into drugs and hedonism. . .His mother's belief that she had something to do with Sammy's desolation: maybe she "worked too hard, left him alone too long"; and Sammy's own guilt. But over the proceeding months both Sammy and his family faced themselves and each other. There is pain and tears and a lot of denial, a fair amount of blame and conter-attacking, but eventually the roots of the family's desolate free-fall are identified and the possibility of healing begins. . .

As the book is taken from the 'sessions' the writing can be a little heavy to get through. But we must remember that this is real pain and anguish, easy to forget when turning the pages and sipping our coffee. Sammy was at the end of the line - as far as he was concerned - and he wanted to jump off; the contents reflect this and are a little disconcerting. But being safe in the knowle
dge (via the front cover) that Sammy does indeed get through, then this is a book available to even the most hearts-and-flowers of readers. Anyone professionally or otherwise interested in how a teenager can wantonly turn away from light and eagerly embrace cloying blackness will find 'Almost Lost' a paradoxically inspiring read.

The writing does get a little bogged-down in 'Love Thyself' 'wispiness' and if I'm honest a little monotonous and - at the risk of enraging the wrath of all - a little boring. I know that Sammy's situation should not be validated through a rating of entertainment, but anyone not interested in the psychological maelstrom of a young adult's thought processes may find the book a little too abstract. The Counsellor does not provide interpretations or in-depth assessments, simply the sessions are recounted verbatim and left for the reader to pore over.

But what the book does provide or at least facilitate is a glimpse of how perception can sometimes be as powerful, if not more so, than reality. The roots of Sammy's descent into drugs and destruction are eventually found to be embedded in just a few incidents. These events may well have been the trigger but it is how Sammy introspected and internalised them. For example, he treated witness of his father's drug taking as being a reflection that he was no longer loved. It is this interpretation and selective perception that was found to be the conduit of Sammy's demise. In this vein, the book is highly educational and informing.

'Almost Lost' is exhilaratingly inspirational as such that a young man took the help that was offered him and chose to live rather than the alternative. Even though this is the case some potential readers may find the initial chapters of the book a little too gloomy for their taste. But for those that choose to go on and learn more, it's fascinating, dichotomous and enlighteni
ng. Sammy had a very long and arduous route to navigate, many monsters to face but with the help of his loving family, he got there. Therefore this is a book to be celebrated as is the young man who so very bravely lived to tell his tale.


Almost Lost - £3.50 (Amazon P/B)

ISBN 0 380 78341 X

Summary: