Reconstructing Amelia Susan
Lester 809
The
teenage years are not easy. According to recent studies, one in six teens are
regularly being bullied and one in eight teens suffer from depression. Teens
are also confronted with having to deal with unwanted sexual contact, and there
is a significant amount of teens abusing drugs. Many young adult books focus on
these difficult issues, and it can be troubling for people to read about them
because they don’t want to think about these problems and what life is really
like for some teens. However, I think that it is important to be aware that
teens really do deal with these issues.
One
book that does a very good job of exploring the difficulties of the teen years is
Reconstructing Amelia, written by
Kimberly Mccrieght. This book portrays teenagers smoking, drinking and doing
drugs, and having sexual intercourse, among other in other inappropriate
behavior. The story is about a teenage girl named Amelia, who people thought
jumped off the roof of the school, but are now starting to suspect that someone
pushed her. Although some people might
think that what happens in this book is too troubling to read about, I was able
to deal with it because it taught me a lesson, and I learned from the
characters mistakes.
One-way
Reconstructing Amelia might be
considered a troubling book, is because throughout the book there are teens
drinking doing other drugs. For example on page 110 it says, “There were girls
piled up on the couches and stretched out across the floor. It was filled with
smoke too. Pot, cigarettes; most people had a beer in their hands.” This image of
teens acting stupid and reckless could be troubling to a lot of readers because
they don’t like to think that underage kids drink and do drugs. However, I’m
glad the author put it in because it makes me aware of how dangerous drugs and
drinking at a young age can be. It is scary to think that many teens don’t
realize how horrible drugs and alcohol at a young age can be. When you’re a
teenager, your brain is still developing. Drinking alcohol and smoking pot can hurt
your brain’s development and make you less smart than you would have been. Also
if you have an underlying and undiagnosed mental disorder such as bipolar or schizophrenia,
it can be triggered.
Alcohol and drugs aren’t the only
substance the teenage characters abuse. Amelia’s friend, Zadie, smokes casually
throughout the book. For example when Zadie was letting new girls into her
club, it keeps mentioning how she smokes in-between sentences. This can also be
find troubling because when Zadie smokes, she thinks she looks cool but she
doesn’t realize it could give her lung cancer. I found this troubling because
it made me think about the preteens and teens I know that smoke E cigarettes,
and even though they aren’t as bad as regular cigarettes, they still have nicotine
in it and that is extremely addictive.
Another
way this book can be considered troubling to readies that there are a lot of
teens having sexual intercourse. On page 199, Amelia has to take inappropriate
pictures of herself if she wants to stay in the Magpies (one of the many clubs
at their school, this one is for the cool kids), and post them online on a
blog. It says, “In the first, Heather was in a lace pushup bra and matching
panties. That’s what I had to do. Oh god was it all worth it? For Dylan, it
was.” That quote is troubling because teenagers posting pictures of themselves
online basically naked is not what people want to see. Especially their
parents. I also found this troubling to think about because there are tons of
creepy people out there that might see your picture and then hunt you down.
Another thing that happened that could be found troubling to readers is that
Amelia and Dylan had sexual intercourse, and they were sixteen. Some readers
might find this upsetting to read because they don’t want to think about girls
this age having sex, because they may feel they are too young. I didn’t find
this as troubling as the other things in the book because I feel that if you
are in a serious relationship with someone you love, and you’re ready and use
protection, it can be fine to do those sorts of things.
Reading
this book confirmed my feelings that although what happens in a book can be
troubling to read about, it can also teach you a very good lesson. By
portraying the mistakes the characters made, this book taught me to be aware of
my actions and what I do, because there will be consequence and I will have to
deal with them. So therefore, in the end even though young adult books can be
troubling, there is usually a reason why they are like that. To teach you
something
