What an absolutely essential and fantastic book.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the poignantly written story of a suicidal/homicidal teenage boy named Leonard, sometimes called Leo. Leonard is the son of absentee parents; an uppity fashion designer and a washed up rock star. As Leonard goes through what he prepares to be the last day of his life, which just so happens to be his 18th birthday, the reader is transported with him on a journey to find anyone who might just be able to stop the coming tragedy. Leonard doesn't really want to kill himself at all, so he speaks with four people in his life that he believes might be able to help him. He hopes these friends will see through his act and do something, anything.

It is tragic to watch the people in Leonard's life fail him. It is heart-wrenching to read the first person account of his pain from a situation, that although unnamed until near the end of the book, happens far too often and doesn't get the awareness needed.

I completely believe that all teachers should have to read this book. It speaks to the power of understanding the signs of suicide as well as the power we as educators can have to be a positive force in the lives of our students.

A student recommended this book to me and it took me a while to get into it. Some of the language here is beautiful in its brokenness, the way Charlie's story comes to us in fragments. However, some of the language is clunky. "My eyes were fierce with water" and some of the earlier phrases were jarring in their strangeness. Maybe that's partly to show the narrator's altered state of mind, but if that was the case, it wasn't plain.
There were a couple parts of this book that dragged, especially the 30 or so pages right after the climactic event. I suddenly didn't care any more until the action made it back to the main city. I listened to this on audiobook. The narration was amazing and that's probably why I didn't skip through that section.
The ending is poignant and this story is another that I would whole-heartedly recommend to educators. It's amazing what teenagers can go through and we need to not turn a blind eye to it. This story may seem extreme, but it's reality for far too many and it was mostly reality for the author. I think that's what really makes this book work.

This book was a great teaching tool to tie science and geography together for my seventh graders. Even as an adult, I learned so many things about the complex and interwoven environment of the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers. Everyone should read this book and enjoy it. I recommend all science and history teachers keep it in their classroom.

My students were looking for something like Hush, Hush, but better written. I stumbled upon this book, and WHAT. A.GEM.

I don't really care for romance or post apocalyptic anything. This book has me rethinking both of those opinions.

So far the book is clean enough for my 7th-9th graders, even if it is full of gore. I'm hoping the rest of the series is this great!

It's difficult to rate this book.

I feel like I'll have to sit with it on my mind for days to grasp it completely.

More to come.

"WHY does this guy insist on trying to keep me down? On the real, he's just as bad as Jared! It's like I'm trying to climb a mountain, but I've got one fool trying to shove me down so I won't be on his level and another fool tugging at my leg, trying to pull me to the ground he refuses to leave."

Dear Martin is an excellent and well developed look at modern day racial issues. Justyce, the main character in the novel experiences profiling and hardships from just about every direction in his community. Add all of that to the regular pressures of being a high school student, worrying about parental approval, and trying not to make a fool of yourself in front of a girl, and, well, Justyce has a full plate.

I've taught in an all black school and in an all white school. Now I am somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. I would heartily recommend this book to all of my former and present students. This is one of those rare gems of a book that takes a current issue and teaches empathy all around. If you're a teacher of students grades 7+, do your kids a service and put this in their library. If you're a parent, give this book to your child. If you're a student yourself, advocate for this book. We all need it.

Another excellent book by Susan Ee!

I have fallen utterly in love with the characters of Penryn, Paige, Raffe, and even the insane mother. The way this world continues to get larger and more in depth is so rewarding to me as a reader.

I told my students that this series is like a mash-up of Hush, Hush, Supernatural, and The Walking Dead.

I was wrong. It's infinitely better than anything else in any of its related genres.

Off to the third book now!