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Reading

6 Degrees of Separation: Reasons to Stay Alive

Melinda Tognini September 10, 2015 3 Comments
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Welcome back to Six Degrees of Separation. If you’re just tuning in, this is a monthly meme in which authors Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman provide us with a book title, and then we link it to six others in any we please. This month’s starting point is Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive.

reasons-to-stay-alive

I hoped to have read Reasons to Stay Alive before this post; instead it’s on my ever growing to-read pile. This book is about Mait Haig’s struggle with depression, something that’s affected a number of people I love. In one case, a friend of mine couldn’t find enough reasons to stay alive, and we were left to cope with the aftermath. Perhaps we should all be reading Reasons to Stay Alive in conjunction with asking our family and friends, ‘R U OK?’

The title reminds me of a book (and movie) called Alive, by Piers Paul Read, in which the people involved desperately wanted to live. In this true tale, it was the physical elements that were against them when their plane crashed into the Andes.

I taught Alive to a group of high school students a number of years ago and it provoked some interesting conversations in the classroom. Another book I read with a group of students was Little Brother by Allan Baillie. This is a fictional account of real events – the horrific atrocities that occurred in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. The main character is a young boy, Vithy, who is searching for his brother.

When I googled Little Brother (I hadn’t thought about it for some years and had to remind myself who wrote it), I was informed that people also searched for Libby Gleeson. Like Allan Baillie, Libby Gleeson has written a novel from the perspective of a young person whose life is turned upside down by terrible conflict, this time in Afghanistan. In Mahtab’s Story, the protagonist (Mahtab) is forced to flee with her family in order to find safety. Will Australia become that safe haven?

Reasons to Stay Alive1

One of Libby Gleeson’s other books is Go to Sleep, Jessie, which recently won the 2015 CBCA Book of the Year Awards in the ‘Early Childhood’ Category.

The winner of the ‘Older Reader’ category is The Protected by Claire Zorn. Having loved her debut novel, The Sky So Heavy, I am adding this to my to-read list, too. In Zorn’s latest offering, teenager Hannah is living with the grief of losing her sister in a car accident.

Also dealing with loss and grief is Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia, one of the first books I ever taught, and one I consider to be a modern classic that’s stood the test of time.

Reasons to Stay Alive2

So it would seem I started with books about finding reasons to stay alive and finished with books about death and loss, and the impact on those left behind. Sorry the post didn’t end on a more ‘cheery’ note – I just went where the connections led me!

Why don’t you check out where Six Degrees of Separation led Annabel Smith? And even better, why not join in yourself.

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Previous Listening to Stories of the Second World War Before it’s too Late
Next Welcome to a New Chapter of Treefall Writing
Melinda Tognini

story-gatherer & mentor

Related Posts
6 Degrees of Separation: From Sorrow and Bliss to Lost and Found June 4, 2022
Book Notes: So Many Beats of the Heart by Carrie Cox May 31, 2022
So Many Beats of the Heart: In-Conversation with Carrie Cox May 24, 2022

3 Comments

  1. annabelsmith says:
    September 21, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    Lots of harrowing books here! I remember being heartbroken by Bridge to Terabithia but also thinking it was wonderful. Everyone really should be reading Reasons to Stay Alive, and asking RUOK?

    Reply
    1. Melinda Tognini says:
      September 21, 2015 at 4:32 pm

      Absolutely. And not only asking, but following that up by listening. Really listening.

      Reply
      1. annabelsmith says:
        September 22, 2015 at 2:12 pm

        Yes, that is essential. Although this is also the part that’s so difficult for many people. Not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t know how. More education is needed around this, I believe.

        Reply

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    I would love to know what you think once you have finished them - I always love seeing your perspective on the books you read x
    In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Sorrow and Bliss to Lost and Found
    I found that fascinating too - especially given the reasons for the connection were totally different.
    In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Sorrow and Bliss to Lost and Found
    There are so many fabulous writers in Australia (both fiction and non-fiction), so I love being able to share them with others who might be less familiar with them!
    In 6 Degrees of Separation: From Sorrow and Bliss to Lost and Found

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