Over the break, I finally had some time to immerse myself in reading for fun! Did I ignore my impending final exams? Yes, I did! I read a couple of books during this time, but the one that really stood out to me was Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer. When I first picked up Belzhar, I thought it would be a quick and fun read, just what I needed to get me back into reading for pleasure, but it surprised me. I’m not saying that it wasn’t a quick and easy read; rather, that it was deeper and had a much more serious tone than I expected.
This novel approaches grief and tragedy in a way I never thought of before. It tackles these serious themes fully and is careful not to make light of them or belittle the suffering and struggles of the characters. It has the right amount of teenage humor and angst to keep the reading light and fun while still making the reader truly think about the effects of tragedy and grief on a person. It addresses how different people process and deal with grief in different ways without saying one way is the best, or the only way to process life’s terrible moments. Using a magical twist, Meg Wolitzer explores these themes in a way that is easier for the reader without taking away from the seriousness of the topic; through the interesting world of Belzhar, into which a group of students has been forced.
The story follows Jam Gallahue who has lost her boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She has been sent to a therapeutic boarding school out in the country for students with delicate emotions. (In Jam’s opinion, this is a nice way of saying she is two steps away from being tossed into the loony bin). Once there, she is placed into Mrs. Quenell’s English Special Topics class, a class in which only a seemingly random few are chosen. There have been rumors and talk about past students of this class; each year is different, one year they create their own language, another they hide out in the woods; and they all act as if they have a secret that no one else would understand.
At first the class isn’t all that weird. They’re reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and keeping journals. However, the journal assignment seems a bit strange. The journals have the power to take them back to a happier time just before their lives were overtaken by tragedy. Unfortunately, the students soon find there’s a catch. The journal only has so many pages. What will they do when the pages run out? How can they move past their own tragedies and start truly living again?
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