Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
Through Maud, you enter a world where the past and the
present blend. You experience her confusion and bewilderment. Reading
this story through the eyes, emotions and thoughts of Maud helped me to reflect
about this condition. Memories form part of our identity and enable us to be productive members of society. I came to appreciate the anxiety associated with the loss
of short term memory. Not just the annoyance of forgetting but the repeated
experiences of not knowing where you are or how you got there, everyone becomes
a stranger and the people you interact with vary in their ability to relate to
you. It must be a lonely struggle to deal with the ongoing unfamiliarity and
make sense of where you belong. It has made me feel more understanding and compassionate towards people who suffer this condition.
World Alzheimer's Day is September 21, for more information about dementia and Alzheimer go to Alzheimer
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
When Apple's mother returns after eleven years of absence, Apple feels whole again. She will have an answer to her burning question – why did you go? And she will have someone who understands what it means to be a teenager – unlike Nana. But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother's homecoming is bitter sweet, and Apple wonders who is really looking after whom. It's only when Apple meets someone more lost than she is, that she begins to see things as they really are.(Back cover)
Read the author's thoughts about her book at Interview
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