Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Book Info
ebook, 304 pages
Published August 1st 2012 by Sourcebooks Fire
original title Send
ISBN 140227338X (ISBN13: 9781402273384)
edition language English
other editions (4)
Source:Kindle version borrowed from Public Library

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

It’s been five years since I clicked Send.
Four years since I got out of juvie.
Three months since I changed my name.
Two minutes since I met Julie.
A second to change my life.

All Dan wants for his senior year is to be invisible. This is his last chance at a semi-normal life. Nobody here knows who he is. Or what he’s done. But on his first day at school, instead of turning away like everyone else, Dan breaks up a fight. Because Dan knows what it’s like to be terrorized by a bully—he used to be one.

Now the whole school thinks he’s some kind of hero—except Julie. She looks at him like she knows he has a secret. Like she knows his name isn’t really Daniel..

My Thoughts

Daniel Ellison is living a lie, his name was changed five years ago, his age is shown as 17 not 18 and he cannot tell anyone why.

Five years ago at 13 Dan provoked a young boy of 12 to commit suicide by posting a demeaning photo of him on the internet, his guilt is still as fresh as if it were yesterday and if exposed he and his family will be forced to relocate again.
On the first day at his new school seeing another boy being threatened he cannot help but step in when what he knows he should do is ignore what is happening to protect himself and his family, however Dan is not going to turn away but instead stops the attack.

Another student witnesses what happened keeping Dan from trouble with school authorities but that is not enough for Dan as he cannot understand why she did not step in herself.

Turns out he is not the only one whose past holds sway over his actions, Julie experienced a trauma 5 years ago also that still haunts her and is the reason why she made no move to help their classmate.

Bullying, whether it be mental or physical is a very serious problem and the portrayal of the consequences that can happen when one is bullied or one is the bully are depicted truthfully as well as realistically in this book.

The sad part is that the message may never reach the correct audience but it will hopefully make an impact if it does and allow those readers to understand that what they are experiencing is not normal so maybe it can help prevent a tragic ending to their story.

Full of hard truths for both teens and adults alike.

[Kindle version borrowed from Public Library]