| Biography |
Summary
Summary
Brent Runyon's account of his attempted suicide has garnered critical accolades for its glimpse into adolescent depression and rare insight into the human condition. Fearing expulsion and parental disapproval after lighting a shirt on fire at his school, Brent goes home, soaks his bathrobe with gasoline, steps into his shower, and strikes a match. Suffering horrific burns, Brent faces a long, painful recovery-both mentally and physically. "Runyon has, perhaps, written the defining book of a new genre, one that gazes ... unflinchingly at boys on the emotional edge."-Booklist, starred review
Reviews (2)
Horn Book Review
(High School) In 1991, when Brent Runyon was fourteen, he doused his bathrobe in gasoline, draped it over his shoulders, and lit a match. Before then, he had tried several times to commit suicide. ""I've got to think of a way to kill myself that I can't turn back from,"" he remembers thinking before making the decision that would leave him with second- and third-degree burns over eighty-five percent of his body. This candid memoir recounts the year following the fire -- eight months of which Brent spends in two different hospitals -- in riveting detail. In the beginning, his life revolves around a series of excruciatingly painful medical rituals. Runyon excels at conveying character through action, as in this description of his favorite nurse's technique for unwrapping his bandages: ""Tina's good at pulling the old Xeroform off. She knows when to let it sit there and pull it slowly, she knows when to add some water, and she knows when to just rip it off and let me scream for a few seconds."" His opinion of the hospital psychologists is much less generous because they, along with his well-intentioned (and affectionately portrayed) parents, don't seem capable of asking him the ""right questions."" For Brent, trying to figure out why he was so sad before the fire is difficult, since he can barely remember the person he used to be. He does recall thinking about ""really bad stuff"" and is glad that he didn't hurt others but ""only killed myself."" There's a lot of emotion beneath Runyon's narrative; when it does break through to the surface, it is all the more powerful for its simplicity and directness. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
This true story of a 14-year-old boy who tried to commit suicide by setting himself on fire certainly has the power to grab the attention of many young readers, despite its length. Formerly an excellent student, Brent suddenly begins to fail in school and pulls one too many pranks. Sure he'll be caught and expelled for impulsively setting a fire in a locker and unable to admit his guilt, he decides that it's best to die. The bulk of the narrative follows Brent through his treatment and recovery, his pain, pleasures, and frustrations, his family's love, and his relations with his friends. Rarely stated but always lurking below the surface is the question of why Brent set himself on fire, because he doesn't know himself. It's a fascinating journey through a teenager's mind, only lacking information about what happened to Brent after he returned to school. (Nonfiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
