How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby
Yes, I'm broken, Pluto thought. Just let me be broken and leave me alone.
| Thirteen-year-old Pluto and her mom are confronted with a challenging situation: understanding and coping with Pluto's recent diagnosis of depression and anxiety. Her mother is terrified when her daughter completely withdraws, is unable to sustain long-established friendships and can no longer attend school. Pluto alternates between constantly sleeping and lashing out at others, particularly her mother. Activities she enjoyed such as visiting the planetarium and spending time on the boardwalk are no longer interesting or entertaining. She was tired of trying. She was tired of her mom's desperate, eager eyes. She was tired of all of it. There are similarities between How to Become a Planet and Melleby's debut novel Hurricane Season. Both explore the tenuous relationship between a parent and child as they deal with mental illness. While her early book chronicles a young girl struggling with her father's illness, her current novel reverses the situation. A mother must come to grips with her daughter’s depression. |  |
Pluto-the-Person discovers that like the former planet Pluto, her status seems to have shifted. Over the course of the book her world alters in significant ways. She connects with a girl whose family owns a Jersey Shore business and finds that their developing friendship holds the possibility of romance. She visits her father and his girlfriend in New York City and learns that his partner copes with a mental disorder. She begins tutoring sessions with a sympathetic woman and attempts another session with a therapist. Pluto also make the surprising discovery: her grandmother lived with a mental illness.
By summer's end, Pluto is able to acknowledge some realities. A list of goals does not work for her. She must find what helps her and avoid unrealistic expectations. She wants to repair her relationships with her mother and her best friend. She hopes to explore the possibility of romance. She has the support of her parents, her friends, her tutor, and her therapist. Learning to live with depression will take time. There will be setbacks. That is okay.
Melleby's explorations of mental illness and how it affects family life are stories of everyday people facing real problems. Life is a struggle, but not without hope.
You still are Pluto...You just need to learn how to care for and accept this new understanding of you.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: May 25, 2021 Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers ISBN: 978-1643750361
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