The
morning sun promises the start of a great day; well if you discount the pile of
unpaid bills, the lack of coffee or the fact no water was coming out of the tap
– well then yes it was going to be a promising day.
However bad things seem,
Tiger Tolliver and her Mum, June always work as a team – together they are
unstoppable.
At
school there are pros and cons. Her best friend Cake is always there for her,
then there is nerd but prospective boyfriend Kai Henderson, on the flipside is
Lupe Hidalgo and her besties who love nothing better than to make Tiger’s life
suck. All Tiger wants is to go to the school dance and be normal – just like
everyone else.
Thinking
she is helping; her Mum buys her a weird looking dress. June Tolliver wants her
daughter to be the belle of the ball. Tiger hates the dress and the two argue
for all the wrong reasons. In a huff, Tiger stays out late with her friends and
ignores her Mum’s calls.
Then
three little words change Tiger’s world forever – Your Mum died and
naturally she blames herself. Her world turns inside out and upside down –
nothing will ever be the same. The Tolliver girls can be separated after all.
Emergency
foster care follows with a series of weird wanna be parents, Tiger continually
hopes that it is all a bad dream. As a way of keeping track, Tiger keeps count
of how many days, hours and minutes since her Mum died. The weird dress her Mum
bought now becomes the one thing Tiger links with her Mum, so she refuses to
take it off.
Drowning
in darkness, suicidal thoughts plague Tiger (real name Grace). Tiger stops
eating, barely showers and starts to self-harm – anything to stop the pain.
Tiger sort of makes friends with similar kids in the temporary foster care
home, but is sent to another more permanent home.
Rebelling
and trying to deal with her devastating loss, Tiger acts out in a series of
misadventures and ends up in juvenile detention. Hitting rock bottom after
discovering her Mum had been keeping secrets about her Dad – Tiger has nowhere
else to turn. Its her time in detention that makes her eat a real meal in
months, attend a grief group at school and make friends with the one person who
she thought hated her the most, Lupe Hidalgo.
At
53 days, 12 hours the world takes on a slight glimmer of hope and Grace might
just make it out of the darkness.
Kathleen
Glasgow creates a story that oozes raw loss and grief. The pain Grace feels
throughout the book is felt by the reader, its inescapable sadness will
resonate with anyone who has experienced such deep loss. But the author shows
the reader there is always hope, someone who will listen and time can help to
heal even the deepest wounds. One word of advice when reading this story, arm
yourself with tissues.
Title:
How To Make Friends With The Dark
Author:
Kathleen Glasgow
Publisher:
HarperCollins, $19.99
Publication
Date: 15 April 2019
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781460751060
For
ages: 14+
Type:
Young Adult Fiction
