Category: Young Adult/Teen Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN-10: 0595361722
Type: Fiction
Pages: 108
Copyright: August 2005
Peace I Ask of Thee, Oh River, addresses teenage depression, suicide and bullying at a girls' camp.
When I burst through the doors, I saw Tiffin leaning over a toilet. My first thought was that she was throwing up. That would make sense. She had all the makings of a vomiter -- that awful tension some of my friends with eating disorders have and her collarbones stuck out. I stepped up behind her cautiously, getting braced not to throw up myself. But she was quiet, intent, her hand in the toilet. I looked over her shoulder and saw Chipper Jones in the water, frantically swimming. With one long, white finger, Tiffin pushed the chipmunk's head under the water.
Don't expect this book to have anything to do with hymns, despite the title, which refers to a song the teenagers sing at a girls' camp. The story surrounds a group of counselors who get distracted from their usual repertoire of pot, boys, sex, hazing, and clique rivalry by a new camper who has problems that may be a bit overwhelming for the high-school-age camp leaders. Ms. Phillips has brought together a cadre of timeless characters full of inner angst and childish plots. You will finish the last page, still wondering about the mystery.
Reviewed by Susan Baronoff
4/30/2006
With Peace I Ask of Thee, Oh River, Lyda Phillips proves that her recent novel, Mr. Touchdown, was no fluke. As crisp and wise and well-written as Mr. Touchdown, Peace I Ask of Thee also probes disturbing themes, weaving them in and through the comforting rhythms of everyday life.
In fact, the rhythm of life at Camp Nichia is one of the reasons El Campbell had spent all of her childhood summers there. Now that she was finally a counselor, it was her turn to teach new campers about Nichia’s traditions and rituals, contests and classes, how cabins were assigned and friends were made… In other words, it was going to be the perfect end-of-childhood summer.
But it wasn’t. Something happened, and instead of El changing her young charges’ lives, one of them changes hers.
A wealthy, powerful family deposits their troubled daughter, Tiffin, at the camp, and El’s summer of perfection turns into an ongoing confrontation with one very angry, very unhappy young girl. It’s not just that Tiffin won’t cooperate with any of the rituals and traditions – which she won’t – it’s that she’s weird! Really, deeply strange. So sometimes it’s easier to just leave her alone. And that’s exactly what El and the other girls do. Whenever possible.
Eventually, El’s unexamined, adolescent contempt for anybody different gives way to concern for her disturbed young charge. From that point on, she is in a race against time…trying to wake herself up from the soothing comforts of the cozily familiar, and see what is.
Once again, Phillips has given us a strong young voice. Described as a “normal, healthy teenager,” El finds herself dealing with things she doesn’t understand, doesn’t want, and can’t ignore. Hers is the heroine’s journey -- down, down, into the depths of her own soul; to make sense of madness, to find meaning at the heart of chaos.
And best of all, the author takes us on that journey, without giving up one bit of the fun and romance and silliness and boredom, and the wonder of one’s 18th summer. The tastes and sounds and smells of camp… songs and chores… goofy traditions…and the sweetness of a first summer love… Phillips’ obvious love of nature, combined with her exceptional gift for description, let us hike and swim and shoot the rapids right along with El and her friends.
This wonderful story, with its fast-moving plot and engaging characters, will be thought-provoking for readers of any age. It tackles such tough topics as mental illness and the cruelty often displayed by groups against individuals it fears, and it does so in a richly detailed, multi-textured world, as vibrantly alive to the reader as it is to El and her fellow campers.
The sequel to Goalden Girl. Gemma's school football team is well-established. Her young step-sister Portia is also becoming a promising player, until an accident changes her life forever
Jennifer finally ends up in Apalachia after barely escaping an attack. She soon learns about her destiny and how her actions will 'put a friend in grave danger'. With everyone refusing to tell her more Jennifer must find answers for herself.
