That Just Happened!

Standiford, Natalie.  How to Say Goodbye on Robot.  Scholastic Press. (2009).

 The new girl in town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn’t made a new friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon they form an unexpected friendship. It’s not romance, exactly, but it’s definitely love. Still, Bea can’t quite dispel Jonah’s gloom and doom?and as she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or is he destined to vanish?

As described on chapters.indigo.ca

Overall, I thought it was a well-meaning story.  I think it definitely was relatable for young girls.  I liked that it dealt with depression in teens.  Bea’s family doesn’t understand her and she feels out of place with her peers who are busy partying it up in their final year of high school.  Jonah has had serious problems throughout his childhood and teens and Bea feels she can relate to that.  Although it manifests itself in different ways, I would say both characters suffer from depression.  I think it is good that this is addressed in the book because it is important for teens to know that it’s okay to feel sad and just because you aren’t experiencing “textbook” symptoms, you are suffering none the less.  I also liked how it brings up a good point about helping those with serious psychological/emotional problems.  In the book Bea tries desperately to help Jonah and make him feel better, but at some point you need to stop.  It won’t ever be a clean break and it wasn’t in this book either.   

Again, I liked the feelings expressed in this book as they are typically teenagers’, however, I thought that at dialogue was sometimes unbelievable as something teenagers would say.  (Don’t worry, this is not a spoiler.)  At the end of the book Bea is talking to Jonah and trying to convince him of something to do with their friendship.  I think what she says is what a  teen would like to say, but probably wouldn’t be able to put so eloquently when in that emotional state (I doubt any of us could).

Perhaps this book can open up dialogue between teens about what they would do in Bea’s situation, which would be helpful for teens in similar situations (we’ve all had relationships with people who have not been great for us).

I read this book for the 2010 Young Adult Challenge.