Fiction: The Pact

 I think that it is an unfortunate sign of the times when the idea of teen suicide and violence is both muffled and misunderstood. People seem unable to broach topics like teen suicide and violence for fear that it may introduce ideas that havent been discovered to people in desperate circumstances. It is something that stikes me to the very core and, as an educator of young people, I want to discuss it all the time so that the people who surround me every day know that there are always other options, that they are never as alone as they might feel some days and that support is only a phone call away. Educating people and coaching and mentoring people so that they can see that there is still light in the world and that it is shining down on them is of vital importance.

Novelists like Jodi Picoult help to bring these ideas to society's awareness, to raise the collective conciousness so that suicide and violence stops being a topic of hushed fear and utter helplessness. That it is no longer a taboo to seek out support and find a hand in the darkness. That people feel safe enough to say "Help me" and other people find strength to step up to do so.

In terms of literary quality, however, this is not one of Picoult's finest novels. The family drama feels sparse and artificial, the shift in character development is almost too intense and dramatic, the epiphanies too stark and without emotional turmoil. I liked the roundness of some characters and disliked the flat stock quality of others.

I was drawn in, though, to the plot and liked the premise of the storyline and how it spun out over the course of the narrative. I was satisfied with Picoult's ability to pull the reader into the fast paced thriller-like suspense and anticipation, even as I felt the pressure of the framework that she has become known for producing.

Overall, I liked how the novel made me consider my own thoughts and opinions about controversial topics and liked even more the fact that it dealt with the anxieties or adolescence and that oh so fragile bridge across to adulthood. It makde me see that although the timeframe between teenagers and adults is relatively slight, the necessary maturation is not a process that should be hurried or negated. Growing up does not take just time, it takes knowing that you should be "nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." e.e. cummings