Comments about addiction and its impacts pepper each essay but thankfully, they are primarily factual and not pedantic. The essays are straightforward and honest; they will appeal to teens interested in true stories of this ilk. ( )

Note: I received this ARC for free in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on March 5, 2013 for your reading pleasure.

As with many people, I have personal experience with addicts and even more so as a child with addict adults surrounding them. So, I was very intrigued to get my grubby hands on this book and see what it had to offer.

I couldn't tell if the book was intended to be marketed to actual youth or if it was for adults. Either way, it had its shortcomings. The essays felt very choppy and very forced. I'd be curious to find out if they were done interview-style and edited down to fit in the style of the book better. To be honest, I thought the book was comprised of younger amateur authors (under 21) telling their stories. It wasn't until I got to the end of an essay that I found out it was adult reflections. It's hard to explain, there was just no emotion contained in the writing, which is almost impossible to do with such an emotional topic being discussed.

There were also minor editing errors that could use a once-over before it gets released. Since it comes out in under 2 weeks, I have a feeling it won't quite make it.

The great part about these stiff essays were the truth in them. I think this would make a great book to distribute to Alateen and guidance counselors everywhere to help kids/teens realize they aren't as alone as they feel. The feeling of isolation can be suffocating, trying to take the burden of everything alone can do more damage than the addict themselves. Even though I would have rebelliously scoffed at this book as a teenager, I know I would've read it in secret and soaked it in. Living with an addict is a lonely world especially when you fear that something bad may happen to you or the addict if you speak up.

With a little finessing, I think this could be a great educational tool. The writing was just a little bit too disjointed and choppy to really pack the punch that it could.

Quotes that stood out:

“I was a really smart kid too, so I think maybe I realized that if you did what people told you to, it would save you a lot of time and trouble. But sometimes it also meant that your dad sat on you for two hours when he was stoned” - Jermaine

“Most of all, I lost the opportunity to feel like I was a lovable human being. For the longest time I felt as if nobody any reason to like me”. - Greg

"“Why, for that matter, did Kevin do drugs when I didn't? We were more or less dealt the same hand of cards […] but I always knew where to draw the line.” - Nicola ( )

High praise for the brave young people who were willing to share their powerful, painful and generally raw stories of the destructive addictions that have shaped and shattered their lives. These stories written in the voices of the children who lived through them are heartbreaking, partly due to the visceral nature of the family secrets retold and partly because readers know these secrets are true. As a tool for other youth facing similar situations in their families, this book has some extremely candid moments to offer.

That being said, a reader of such stories needs to feel some sense of recovery afterwards. The stories shared by these young people as part of their recovery offer no real recovery for readers and in many cases the take-away is very negative. In his introduction, Munsch describes for readers his own addiction and offers only that "addiction is a disease and not a child's fault." This may be true, but if you are going to ask readers to invest in a book, there needs to be some element of it that is for the reader - not just therapeutic for the writer. Some sort of insight, either from a professional in the area of addiction recovery or from youth counselors who have something to offer towards breaking the cycle of addiction in families. There is a lot of regret and damage in these stories. If readers cannot find hope for recovery then it will leave them wondering if any of these young people ever found that hope in their lives.

(Note: I received an advance review copy from the publisher via NetGalley) ( )