BOOK REVIEW: "an egg on three sticks"

an egg on three sticks
by Jackie Moyer Fischer
Copyright 2004
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Griffin
Adult Fiction
3.5 Bookmarks

Yikes! If you’ve ever suffered from mental illness or know someone who has, this may not be the book for you. An Egg on Three Sticks is a haunting look at depression and the far-reaching damage it can cause to a family. This story is told from the viewpoint of Abby, a 13-year-old teenager, whose mother suffers from severe depression. Abby is real. She’s an angry teenager who lashes out at anyone who happens to be there. She is the head of the household when her mother goes away. She is rebellious and tough and sad and angry and scared and every other emotion that you can imagine in a girl whose mother is suddenly not Mother anymore. But Abby is vulnerable, in the most heart-warming way. She has needs that cannot be met. There is no one there to take care of her.

And yet Abby does her best to hold the family together. With a father who doesn’t really understand what’s going on and a younger sister who doesn’t have anyone else to turn to, Abby IS the family. She will make you laugh and make you cry. And when relief finally comes, your heart will ache for her.

I liked this book a lot, but it was difficult and painful to read. I don’t know, maybe it hit a little too close to home. If you like books that make you cry, give this one a try. I’m sure it will succeed.