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The Memory of Light | August 3, 2016

by Francisco X. Stork (Scholastic, September 2015)

Vicky Cruz didn’t expect to wake up in a psychiatric hospital after her suicide attempt. During her stay at the hospital, Vicky meets three other teenage patients who are suffering from mental illness, and the group forms a bond that none of them knew they needed. And when her carefully reconstructed inner peace is threatened, Vicky must find the strength within not only to save herself, but her new friends, too.

The Memory of Light is an incredibly honest story about mental illness and the depiction of depression as a disease, made even more poignant by the author drawing from his own experiences with depression. Readers suffering from mental illness and those wishing to understand more about them will only benefit from picking up this vivid portrayal. Beautiful yet harrowing descriptions of the inner workings of Vicky’s mind project off the page, to the point where readers can feel like they are truly inside her mind and right there with her in her recovery. This book would also serve as a great conversation starter for classrooms on how to discuss the realities of mental illnesses and their many stigmas.

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