Book Review: My Kind of Sad

By Kate Scowen, art by Jeff Szuc; 168 pages. From the book cover: "No book can give you a quick fix for depression. But this one can help you understand that it is possible to get through it."

It's depressing to think that kids need a book on depression, but there are plenty of sad statistics to show that it's so. Whether you're concerned about your child, or your child is concerned about a friend, this accessible little volume may be just the thing to get a conversation going.

About the Guide Rating

According to an article on the About.com Parenting of Adolescents site, a study by the CDC indicates that "61 percent of 8th to 10th graders reported feeling sad and hopeless, 36 percent reported nothing to look forward to, and 34 percent expressed serious thoughts of committing suicide." This book is for them, and for their friends. It takes the subject seriously enough to get kids' attention and validate their feelings, but not so seriously that they feel lectured or judged or doomed.

Parents are not the target audience for this book, but they're the ones who'll probably buy it for a young person to read. There's nothing wrong with using a book to introduce difficult subjects, and with its offbeat illustrations and teen-friendly tone this is like a hip version of those American Girl books about bodies that many parents rely on to get their daughters through puberty. The point of a book like this, though, has to be to start a discussion, not replace one. Read the book yourself first. If you agree with everything it has to say, including content on sexuality and medication, give it to your child to read and then talk about it after. If there are parts you take issue with, read the parts you find important with your child, or use the language and information to broach the subject in conversation. Like a lot of teens, the book doesn't seem to have much use for parents. You'll have to put your own self in the picture.

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