Trell by Dick Lehr

written by Dick Lehr
published by Candlewick Press

Very well and precisely written, having finished this book, all I can say is "Wow!" I am breathless and full of admiration for both the players in the original case upon which this story is based, and even more so this fictional telling of the background of the case, realistic and what feels like the actual case unfolding. Kudos to Dick Lehr for his rendering of this original story, reading it was almost like being there.

This is a story that should be told, and I am glad I was fortunate to be sent a copy in a LibraryThing giveaway. I dived into it immediately and could not put it down, it grabbed me to that extent. Taking place in Boston in the 1980s, a young girl is accidentally shot and killed in what was probably a gang shoot-out. Now in the 21st century, this type of violence is still accidentally killing innocents. How sad that so little has changed. But maybe it has changed, at least by the standards of this book. This story is more about police corruption than what goes on in the streets, or around the world for that matter.

A young girl at the beginning of the book, we follow her very brief visits with her father, who is incarcerated for life without parole for the shooting. Trell and her mother visit him every week, and this is very much a story of family unity and love as it is a corrupt sentencing. As Trell ages from a small child to a young teen, she begins to question the sentencing. From this point the book really takes off. Trell will not accept what has happened and begins searching for what is true and what is not regarding her father's sentencing. She and her mother know he did not do the shooting and was nowhere near when it happened. She resorts to working with a lawyer to learn how law works and to learn how it didn't work for her father. Trell is an exceedingly bright girl, filled with determination. I will not give away any spoiler on how this connection leads to other connections. I leave it that this is an awe-inspiring book, one that grabs you and leads you (and Trell) through the darkness of gang warfare, drug dealing, corruption, but in particular, searching for the truth. I was truly mesmerized by this book. Thank you Dick Lehr and Candlewick Press. This book is deemed suitable for age 12 and up. I would agree with that description. I also believe it could help this age group to realize they can make a difference in the world. Review based on ARC (Advance Reading Copy).

A Promise of Hope: The Astonishing True Story of a Woman Afflicted With Bipolar Disorder and the Miraculous Treatment That Cured Her

The author: Autumn Stringam. I reviewed this book in 2006 and posted a short version of my full review. Still based on the proof I read than the final publication, I thought this book was worthy of posting the full review:

This book brings the reader inside the mind of a Bi-Polar Disorder patient in her own words. All the chaos, highs, lows, delusions, anger, and deep depression are felt in a way that could not ever be accurately described by anyone who has not lived the story. Autumn Stringam has lived the story. The depth of the urge to suicide is indelibly written. It is told with no holds barred in the still voice that is often seen in trauma victims describing what has happened to them. A distance that makes the story very compelling and true. There is nothing asked of us other than to believe the story and what it means. No requirement to sympathize with the writer for what she has gone through.

We see her life with her mother’s undiagnosed bi-polar swings and final suicide through a child’s eyes, never dreaming that the same terrors would one day be hers. The illness does not surface until she is an adult and married. From this point on, we travel through her own mind, while at the same time she finally begins to understand her mother. The family once again suffers the same fate as her younger brother also is diagnosed. There seems to be nothing to live for because nothing, no treatment yet used, could do more than remove them from a life into a stupor from which they dare not try to emerge.

Her father begins a quest to find a way to help his children in a way that he had not been able to save his wife. All he wants is for them to be safe. A chance meeting with an animal nutritionist eventually leads to trying a new way, a nutritional concoction of vitamins and minerals, based on the formula for quieting aggressive hogs, “tail biters”. Over the next few years we journey through the miraculous recovery of the siblings. Indeed, both now lead healthy and productive lives.

There are agonizing legal battles to get the product approved. The futile fights with the Canadian government are spelled out completely and succinctly and made me want to join in the fight! I can see it exactly as if I had lived it. I would strongly recommend this book for a number of reasons. For understanding of the bi-polar progress, for the discovery and preliminary trials to improve on any new medical discovery, and for how difficult it is to bring government acceptance of alternative medicine for many illnesses, are three main reasons. This is a real life, Autumn lived this life and tells the truth as it is, plain and simple, with suspense as to what will happen with the discovery, and the final outcome. Read it, you will be glad you did.