Sourcebooks Fire
Featuring: Jonah; April
336 pages ISBN: 1492614416 EAN: 9781492614418 Kindle: B00W3WTVUI Mass Market Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List
YOUR VOICE IS ALL I HEAR broke my heart. It is a story filled with
schizophrenia, teenage bullying, and true love. April is heading back to
school and she doesn't want to go. Her friend Kris has transferred to a
different school and has moved out of their neighborhood as well. These
two were joined at the hip and April doesn't think she can get through high
school without her. She is just trying to get through the day, being invisible
to all of those around her when in walks the new boy, Jonah.
After a little bit, they go out and things are great. Jonah teaches April how
to ignore the bullies and April starts to feel better about herself. April starts
to notice some strange behavior from Jonah but she makes excuses for
him. One day, even their history teacher says something about it to April.
Over time, his behavior gets worse and he winds up in a psychiatric
hospital and he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. April tries to help Jonah
but nothing seems to be working. She doesn't realize she isn't helping him
by enabling him. YOUR VOICE IS ALL I HEAR is going to pull on your
heart strings and leave you with tears in your eyes and wanting to hug April
and Jonah.
April and Jonah have to go through so much, many things that adults
probably couldn't handle but April never gives up on Jonah, never turns her
back on him and his illness. My heart was breaking for them both and what
they went through. I found YOUR VOICE IS ALL I HEAR very believable
and felt as if I were in the room with April and Jonah as they sat with
counselors trying to understand what was happening in Jonah's mind. I've
never read anything quite like this story that had such a lasting effect on
me. I'm now learning more about schizophrenia and have a lot more
compassion for those who suffer with it.
YOUR VOICE IS ALL I HEAR is going to stay with you long after you finish
reading it. Maybe like me, it will change your perception of this awful
illness. I found April's report on schizophrenia that she performed on her
class, amazing. She tried to explain to the bullies who were making fun of
Jonah what he was going through with the voices in his head.
Once, I felt like she was teaching me too, she really opened my eyes to
what those suffering with this debilitating illness are dealing with on a daily
basis. I love when a story can teach you as you are reading. For that, I
thank you, Leah Scheier, for your wonderful lesson on schizophrenia.
"I was the one he trusted. I was the one he loved, the only one who believed him, even when his own mother had locked him up and thrown away the key. And now, I was going to pass down the white tiled hallway, knock on his doctor's office door, slam his secret notebook on her desk and make her read it, make her understand what he was hiding, make her see what only I had seen." April won't let Jonah go without a fight. He's her boyfriend- her best friend. She'll do anything to keep him safe. But as Jonah slips into a dark depression, trying to escape the traumatic past that haunts him, April is torn. To protect Jonah, she risks losing everything: family, friends, an opportunity to attend a prestigious music school. How much must she sacrifice? And will her voice be loud enough to drown out the dissenters-and the ones in his head?