Crossing the line by Dianne Bates
Ford St Publishing, 2008. ISBN
9781876462703
(Age 14+) When Sophie moves into a share house, it is a new start. She
still attends sessions with her psychiatrist, Noel, is checked up by
the social worker, Jan, and monitored by her case worker, Marie.
But Jan goes overseas, and when things begin to stress her at school
and at home, she resorts to her old coping method, cutting herself.
Time in a psychiatric hospital leads her to Helen, her psychiatrist
while an inpatient. But Sophie transfers her affections to Helen, and
cannot stay away from her, once she returns to her usual life. Once
back in her share house, Sophie finds it hard to communicate with her
old friends, sleeping a lot, having daydreams while they are talking to
her, becoming argumentative when they try to help. Eventually she cuts
herself again, after a final rejection from Helen, who she is now
stalking. Her flatmates find her and she is patched up once again. It
is through the support of her friends that she finally realises that
there is life after self harm.
An intriguing look at the motivation of one young person, Crossing
the
line will have broad appeal to middle secondary readers who have
heard
about self harm and want to know more. The background is very real, the
hospital and sessions with case workers and doctors, frightening as
they present a reality not known to many, but the times she spends with
her friends is a little hard to believe as I cannot imagine many young
people being so sympathetic or understanding. This complex novel will
bring information and enlightenment to those who want to know, but it
also tells the story of one young woman for whom life has dealt a poor
hand. How she copes with all that is thrown at her makes for engrossing
reading.
Fran Knight