Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're shining the light on a Young Adult title that focuses on the way we grow from separate entities searching wide and far for our true selves to that peaceful state where HOPE resides. It definitely feels like a book teens would identify with on many levels, and along with our spotlight, we've got a special guest post from the author themselves. So, if you're ready, let's meet today's title in the spotlight and blog tour guest...
by
Maura Pierlot
Ages 12+ | 126 Pages
Big Ideas Press
9780645099805
About the book...
I feel like I’m a piece, a fragment that’s missing all the good bits, but I don’t know where to find the rest … the parts I need to work properly. I bet they wouldn’t fit anyway. (Lexy, age 17)
Publisher’s Synopsis: Eight young people navigating high school and beyond, each struggling to hold on – to family, to friends, to a piece of themselves. Perhaps you know them. The bubbly girl who keeps telling you she’s okay. The high achiever who’s suddenly so intense. The young teen obsessed with social media. The boy challenged by communication. Every single day they, and others, are working hard to keep it together. So hard, they don’t see their friends are struggling, too. Through eight imagined stories, Fragments moves from a place of disconnection to connectedness.
The action of Fragments takes place in the minds and hearts of an ordinary group of young people. Their stories encompass anxiety, depression, neurodivergence, gender dysphoria, social media, bullying, family dysfunction, cross-cultural diversity, and more, culminating in a sense of hope. Although set in Australia, their stories could take place anywhere.
From the Playwright: Rarely presenting as neat packages, mental health issues often involve feelings and behaviors with jagged edges and blurred origins. Fragments embodies the theme that stress at home, at school, and in life is challenging young people beyond their usual coping abilities, leaving them disenfranchised and vulnerable. So much of adolescent life is spent looking inwards that it’s perhaps not surprising that mental health issues are often internalized. I wrote Fragments to start a conversation. It’s only when we speak openly about mental health issues – without fear or judgment – that we can chip away at the stigma that prevents many people from seeking help. It is my hope that the work will find its way into schools in Australia and overseas. The publication includes a comprehensive Study Guide, detailing activities and curriculum links for English, Drama/Arts, Health & PE, Civics, and more.
A powerful and timely mental health resource for young people and their families. Essential reading for high school.
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~~~ GUEST POST with Author Maura Pierlot ~~~
Addressing
Mental Health Through Storytelling
Stories
are a primal form of communication. Since our early ancestors walked
the earth, stories have been a way for elders to pass down knowledge,
beliefs, memories and experiences to the next generation. We
understand and live our lives through stories, using narratives to
share information, to express our emotions, to connect over shared
experiences, to construct our identities, to organise our thoughts,
to identify universal truths, to solve problems and so much more.
I
believe some of the most powerful stories expose our most primitive
fears and vulnerabilities – the types of thoughts and experiences
that many of us have but are reluctant to share. According to
neurobiologist Paul Zak, stories influence brain chemistry, with
certain narratives releasing cortisol, other narrative structures
triggering oxytocin, a ‘happy hormone’ associated with empathy
and a sense of connectedness. In fact, reframing the narrative
through storytelling has been found to promote self-awareness,
wellbeing and resilience, along with behavioural changes. This is
particularly important in response to stress and trauma which can
have a measurable impact on our bodies and psyches.
Perhaps
not surprisingly, storytelling, whether fiction or lived experience,
has the power to challenge common misconceptions about mental health,
change attitudes and beliefs and serve as a guidepost for
communities. Telling stories can help to ‘normalise’ and humanise
mental health conditions and reduce stigma. Stories can also address
mental health issues, often in a nuanced way that provides a safe
space for readers to digest and process the issues, and decompress,
if needed.
Stories,
especially those from personal experience, can foster a sense of
empathy and acceptance in others and help others realise they are not
alone. In a U.S. study, people who were told personal stories of
recovery from mental health problems experienced one or more of the
following benefits: connectedness, validation, hope, empowerment,
appreciation, a shift in reference, and stigma reduction.1
In fact, narrative
therapy is an accepted method of practice that separates the person
from their problem/s, externalising the issue and allowing the person
to ‘re-author’ their identity – seeing an individual as a
person with problems rather than as a problematic person.
Everyone
tells stories, whether in their head or to others, orally or in
writing and, more likely in today’s digital age, online.
Storytelling is a powerful medium that can improve our wellbeing. But
stories about mental health can be harrowing and confusing to others,
sometimes triggering those that hear them, along with the
storyteller. Although there is no one right way to tell a story, it’s
important that mental health stories are told in a safe, informed and
sustainable way.
1Rennick-Egglestone
S, Ramsay A, McGranahan R, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Hui A, Pollock K,
et al. (2019) The impact of mental health recovery narratives on
recipients experiencing mental health problems: Qualitative analysis
and change model. PLoS ONE 14(12): e0226201.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226201.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maura Pierlot is an award-winning author and playwright who hails from New York but has called Canberra, Australia home since the early 1990s. Her writing delves into complex issues including memory, identity, self, and, more recently, mental health. Following its sellout 2019 season in Canberra, Maura’s debut professional theatre production, Fragments is being adapted for the digital space, supported by artsACT. The work is published online by Australian Plays Transforms and in print by Big Ideas Press.
Maura is a past winner of the SOLO Monologue Competition, Hothouse Theatre for her play, Tapping Out. Her plays have been performed in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, and Hollywood. A former medical news reporter and editor of Australian Medicine, Maura also writes for children and young adults. In 2017 she was named winner of the CBCA Aspiring Writers Mentorship Program, and recipient of the Charlotte Waring Barton Award, for her young adult manuscript, Freefalling (now True North). Maura’s debut picture book,
The Trouble in Tune Town won the 2018 ACT Writing and Publishing Award (Children’s category) along with international accolades.
Maura’s poetry, short stories, microfiction, and essays appear in various literary journals and anthologies. Maura has a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate, each in philosophy, specializing in ethics. When she’s not busy writing, Maura visits schools and libraries as a guest reader and speaker, serves as a Role Model for Books in Homes, and contributes reviews for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s online magazine, Reading Time.
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Enter for a chance to win a copy of Fragments and a $50 Amazon gift card!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
A copy of Fragments
A $50 Amazon gift card
Four (4) winners receive:
A copy of Fragments
The giveaway begins September 6, 2021, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends October 6, 2021, at 11:59 P.M. MT.
to access the entry form!
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Special thanks to Bianca at The Children's Book Review for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the author for the guest post. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher,
this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour for more bookish fun...
Monday, September 6, 2021 Tour Kick-Off Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Tuesday, September 7, 2021 A guest article from Maura Pierlot
Wednesday, September 8, 2021 A book review of Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Thursday, September 9, 2021 A book giveaway of Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Friday, September 10, 2021 A book review of Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Monday, September 13, 2021 An excerpt from Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Tuesday, September 14, 2021 A book review of Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Wednesday, September 15, 2021 A book review of Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Thursday, September 16, 2021 A guest article from Maura Pierlot
Friday, September 17, 2021 A book review of Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
Saturday, September 18, 2021 An interview with Maura Pierlot |
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
1 comment:
On so many levels this sounds like an amazing read. And such an interesting Guest Post with the author as well.
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