Few know about the secret life Laura throws herself into on the weekends. Unable to win her mother�s respect or her father�s attention, Laura rebels against the prim confines of her week-day life. She secretly engages in dangerous behaviors, smoking, drinking, and throwing herself at men in bars, where she dances frenetically in outfits that show more skin than good judgment. Ultimately, Laura feels like �it�s a lot harder goin� to school these days� and �it�s a lot harder stayin� alive.� (p. 124) She locks the library door, starts a fire to mask her suicide, and kills herself by taking an overdose of pills.
This novel is written as a series of poems, each authored by a different character. The poems have distinctive styles, reflecting each character�s individuality. Whether concrete, free verse, or rhyming, each shows the protagonist in a different perspective, as seen through the eyes of others or through her own thoughts. The extremes of opinion that two people can have about the same person are reflected in the poems of Lana Novakova and her sister, Yana. For the most part identical poems, the substitution of a few words give them opposite meanings. Lana�s poem opens with �I hate Lauri Li because she is the most popular girl in school.� Yana�s poem, on the other hand, substitutes �love� for �hate,� and reflects the polarized opinions the sisters have of Laura.
The character of Laura is revealed through her own thoughts, while her behavior is revealed through the thoughts of others. While she is outwardly submissive, obedient, and a model student, she rages inwardly against her crushed dreams, her father�s inattention, and her mother�s insensitivity. Her frustration is evident in the first poem, where she reveals the love/hate feelings she has for her brother, and what he is taking from her life. �I can�t tell you how many plans are crushed by what I must do for him. . . I can�t tell you how many colleges are pipe dreams because I must stay at home.� (p. 1)
Laura�s final offering shows that her responsibilities are like a weight she is unable to overcome and foreshadows her suicide: �The pressure to perform adds so much weight to my feet that I am unable to leap into my own life . . . It is time, perhaps, to look upward, to dance without fear, to dance without stopping, at the bar of heaven�s gate.� (p. 122) Adults who introduce this book to teens will want to consider appropriate measures to prepare them for what some will find shocking. School Library Journal (June 1, 2000) says that �The narrative shifts gears several times, and readers may be caught off guard by the teen's suicide.�
The themes of this book will speak to readers in the many voices of the narrators. The fight to establish independence and self-identity in the face of family ties and responsibilities, the power of first love, the push and pull of the microcosm of school society, and the despair that is so prevalent among many teens, are all addressed honestly and sensitively in Split Image. The spareness of the verse adds to the rawness and immediacy of feeling of the young narrators. Although some young readers will be disturbed by Laura�s final act, suicide is all too prevalent among teens today to be ignored. Also significant are the poems which follow Laura�s suicide, showing the devastation, grief, and confusion that are left in its wake. �Written with raw immediacy, this will touch teens deep down.� (Booklist, April 1, 2000)
Awards
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults
Tayshas High School Reading List
Relevant Web Sites
Mel Glenn�s Website: http://www.melglenn.com
Chinese and Chinese Americans in Children�s and YA Books:
http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/chinese.htm
Source
Books in Print [database online]. Available from http://www.booksinprint.com. Accessed 15 November 2004.
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY