T. Lily Decker is a high school senior with a twelve-year plan: avoid stress, drugs, alcohol and boyfriends, and take regular psych quizzes administered by her best friend, Sawyer, to make sure she's not developing schizophrenia.Genetics are not on Lily's side.
When she was seven, her mother, who had paranoid schizophrenia, tried to kill her. And a secret has revealed that Lily's odds are even worse than she thought. Still, there's a chance to avoid triggering the mental health condition, if Lily can live a careful life from ages eighteen to thirty, when schizophrenia most commonly manifests.
But when a newspaper internship results in Lily witnessing a mother elephant try to kill her three-week-old calf, Swifty, Lily can't abandon the story or the calf. With Swifty in danger of dying from grief, Lily must choose whether to risk everything, including her sanity and a first love, on a desperate road trip to save the calf's life, perhaps finding her own version of freedom along the way.
Goodreads | Amazon
Rating: 🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘
My Review: I am in awe for words over this book. This really made my heart hurt so much for these characters. I just have no words to express how I feel. This was the most powerful book that I have read in a while and I could not put it down! I really do not know what to say for this title other than to read it. I tried Turtles All The Way Down a little while ago and this one blows that one out of the water! This book was so heartbreaking and powerful! I have read a few books that deal with schizophrenia but Fischer did such a better job than the others that I have read. This was an eye-opening read for me that again I just could not put down for a second! I was up until 2am finishing it and I really kind of just wanted to start it all over again.
Lily was such a great character and I could feel how scared she was about getting schizophrenia-like her mother. The author did a great job dealing with what its like to have this illness hanging over your head and how hard it is to avoid stress. The story to this one flowed so well you could tell how much the author did in research to write this. And it is no wonder that this was so good because I found out while writing this that this story of Lily is inspired by true events. This story is so much more than a mental health story. It covers a ton of other things as well that are listed in the triggers above. I really can't say anything about those because it would really spoil the book.
In the end, this book screams how mental illness can take over your life if you let it. And how each choice can be for good or bad but its how you deal with it is really what matters.
Go Into This One Knowing: Gives an eye-open perspective into mental illness, suicide, abuse, schizophrenia, animal abuse
Review
"When Elephants Fly is a compelling read, beautifully threading the complex relationship between mothers and daughters, mental illness and elephants."-National Book Award finalist Carrie Arcos
"Not only does this book show the reader the perils of keeping elephants in zoos and having them perform in circuses, it does it with heart, grace, and imagination." -Nina Berry, author of The Notorious Pagan Jones and the Otherkin series
"Unlike anything I've read before in YA, When Elephants Fly is both a fascinating adventure and a stirring coming-of-age novel. There are few clear heroes or villains, and no easy answers for Lily as she moves into an uncertain future. The bond between elephant and girl is deftly wrought-reminiscent of Alec and the Black in Walter Farley's classic, The Black Stallion, but for an older, contemporary audience." -Sara Zarr, author of Gem & Dixie, National Book Award finalist
"When Elephants Fly will inspire readers to love through fear, to love themselves and their humanity, to love the world." - Jenny Torres Sanchez, author of The Fall of Innocence
"Nancy Richardson Fischer deserves high praise for her well-researched and endearing novel. Her imagination, craft, and effort has resulted in her writing a piece of fiction that is worthy of winning a prize. This really is an outstanding piece of fiction that cannot be recommended enough." –New York Journal of Books
"As much a story about mental health as it is about compassion and evolution." –School Library Journal
"Fischer's story encompasses the themes of love, courage, and forgiveness with lively, well-rounded characters, not the least of whom is Swifty. Lily is especially vibrant as she evolves from her quiet, safe existence into someone who recognizes the difference between simply being alive and living." –Booklist
"Compelling...Provides a relevant and relatable character in an often overlooked subject area." –TeenReads.com
"Nancy Richardson Fischer has managed to combine so many important topics-family, mental illness, extinction, animal welfare, and adolescence-into an accessible, moving and extraordinary story." -Ellen C. O'Connell, Executive Vice President, Global, Space for Giants
"This book was an absolute pleasure to read. I encourage everyone to read this inspirational book and discuss mental illness and tolerance and the need to improve wildlife protection." -Katie Rowe, Pritzker Genius Award nominee, Co-founder Reteti Elephant Sanctuary
From the Back Cover
HOW YOU LIVE MATTERS
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FTC Guidelines: In accordance with FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials for bloggers, I would like my readers to know that many of the books I review are provided to me for free by the publisher or author of the book in exchange for an honest review. If am compensated for any reviews on this site I will state that post has been sponsored.
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