Synopsis "With Help From my Sister (in English)"
With Help From My Sister follows Amanda as she tries to come to terms with the diagnosis of her older sister Katelyn, in the wake of her father's recent death. Unsure of what to think and how to react, Amanda finds herself lying to everyone around her, including her best friend Grace. Awful impressions of British accents, Shakespeare and peach cobbler come together in this novel as hilarious misunderstandings occur and Amanda is forced to tell the truth, but not before she finds help and solace in the most surprising of places. With Help From My Sister is part of a new series that feature children whose siblings, or parents, have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Each book in the Mental Illness Awareness series will focus on and highlight a specific mental disorder. The primary goal of these books are not to teach or relay the symptoms of these mental disorders, but to examine how the main characters, who are children, react to the diagnosis of a family member and how they finally come to terms with this significant change. Ultimately, this series aims to help children who are dealing with mental illness in any way, find solace, comfort, and common ground in the struggles of the protagonists within these stories, and learn that each person's response when it comes to dealing with mental illness is unique. Through these books, children will come to understand the importance of finding ways to cope with the significant changes brought about in their lives, learn that it is all right to find it challenging at times, and that it is quite normal to meet obstacles along the way.
