You learn the car you were driving while drunk killed an old man and your girlfriend. You are paralyzed from the neck down. You are a "head".
That's the scenario for Aronson's debut novel, head case.
Frank Marder is that seventeen year old and he's got to learn how to live again. How will he integrate back into society. He has to deal with friends that he's alienated and parents who have serious personal problems themselves.It isn't going to be easy because a lot of people think Frank hasn't been punished enough. And they're saying so on www.quadkingonthenet. Many people think Frank should go to jail but not Anonymous.
"head case" is a poignant, heartbreaking quick read that tackles the issues of drunk driving, consequences of actions, forgiveness and judgment. Can Frank move forward, to forgive himself, and to make a new life for himself under such terrible circumstances? Can he forgive himself?
As a former physical therapist, Sarah Aronson has certainly given teens alot of material to think about.
I really enjoyed this book except for one major detail and that was Frank Marder's complete obsession with sex. Quite honestly, I really think a person in Marder's situation, dealing with quadriplegia, would have many other things to adjust to and to deal with. Certainly the idea that sex might be a thing of the past (as it was in Marder's case) would be in there, but I simply don't think the emphasis would be on this. There is an entire chapter in which Victoria, Frank's physical therapist, discusses the ways in which a quadriplegic can have sex. I felt the novel's repeated focus on this aspect of life was overdone.
Interestingly, the f-word, which is dropped throughout the book, doesn't appear in a quote on the back cover. And, I'm wondering why? If it's okay for the INSIDE of the book, what's so wrong about the back of the jacket cover?
Maybe it was a marketing decision.....
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