Disconnected

June 23, 2014
Drawing on her own struggles with mental illness, Cronkhite (Deep in the Meadows) crafts an unusual psychological thriller in which a young woman is terrorized and bullied by her own subconscious. "Amelia," as 17-year-old Milly Norris refers to her tormenter, taunts her with cryptic clues and comments regarding the parts of her past she can't remember. As Amelia belittles Milly, urging her to commit acts of self-destruction, Milly realizes that her family is as broken and dysfunctional as she is, and that her early childhood is wracked by tragedy. When Milly ends up in the hospital after cutting herself and losing consciousness, she finally receives the help she needs. However, further discoveries may destroy her attempts at internal peace. While Milly's conflicted relationship with her own mind is skillfully portrayed, the overall narrative is disjointed and unfocused; dramatic revelations come off as muted and distant. Even Milly's diagnosis carries little weight or impact, while another surprise regarding her family is bluntly revealed. Despite these shortcomings, Milly's story provides a strong look at how mental illness can manifest and affect lives. Ages 12âup.

May 15, 2014
Milly, 17, is tormented by Amelia Norris, but Amelia isn't another girl-she's part of Milly herself.Whether Milly is schizophrenic and hearing voices, has blackouts due to a personality disorder, or suffers from some more fantastical difficulty is unclear. That confusion passes for mystery as Milly attempts to understand the fire that burned down the house she shared with her grandfather and sends them to live with an aunt with secrets of her own. While Milly finds something good with Blake, the gardener who works for her aunt, her mental instabilities lead the teen to the hospital and some clarity, only to have an out-of-nowhere plot twist threaten her fragile progress. There are a few nice turns of phrase and description in this novel, but they can't overcome all the other problems with Cronkhite's work (which is inspired by her own mental health struggles, according to her author's note). Milly's voice comes off as completely inauthentic, and the dialogue is trite and stilted, full of sentences that sound straight from a school nurse's pamphlets. The plot is full of unnecessary details and appears to be laboring to be edgy.Teens hoping for an Ellen Hopkins read-alike will be disappointed by this. (Mystery. 14-18)

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June 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Although she prefers the name Milly, guardians Grandpa George and Aunt Rachel call her Amelia. What they don't know is that Amelia is also Milly's selfish and self-destructive other half. But whether or not Milly is mentally ill is unclear in this drive-by of a novel that finds its heroine dealing with disorders ranging from cutting and anorexia to incest. Revelations about the family's secret past add another layer of incredulity on the plot, and come complete with dark corners, a missing key, a forbidden diary, a hidden gravestone, and a curious cat who points the way toward some answers. While Milly feels unhinged when Amelia pesters her to do bad things, and she suffers emotionally and physically because of this, the alter ego also pushes her to learn the true identity of her parents, thought to have died in a fire when she was a child. It's from Amelia, perhaps, that Milly learns not to shrink back, such as in her relationship with decent guy Blake Stone, or the ability to walk away from a party awash in alcohol. Millie's small victories of confidence convince more than the novel does as a whole; although the teen years can be tough, it's overkill to lay so many traumas on a single protagonist.-Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NY

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