Hugging the Rock

Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown is an insightful well-written young adult book that deals with the emotional upheaval of having a bipolar parent.  It is both very sad and very uplifting, giving a very real picture of a young girl whose bipolar mother leaves, forcing the daughter and father to recreate their own relationship.  It’s another book that can give teachers insight into the thinking of students who have to deal with situations most of us can barely imagine.  It might also be a book to use to open conversation with a student who has an absent parent for whatever reason.

Hugging the Rock is a verse book, which is another reason to read it.  In the online teacher’s guide, Brown talks about why she wrote the book in verse.  I think students might respond well to writing verse books of their own.  The teacher’s guide also offers questions that can be used for discussion as well as suggested projects for students.