Running head: POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER YA BOOKTALK 1

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder YA Booktalk

Elizabeth Greene

LIBS 6137

Fall 2013

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Introduction: Good afternoon! I am Ms. Greene and am a media coordinator at Graham A.

Barden Elementary School. I taught English I at Swansboro High School for five years and was

also the assistant volleyball and head swim coach. I have always had a passion for literature and

found that many of my high school students disliked reading because they could not relate to the

text. Reading needs to be relevant to high school students, and I know that you have all

experienced stress and some have even had to deal with tragic situations. Some of you may even

be dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder due to a traumatic event. I’m here to talk about

books that deal with PTSD and entice young readers to open a book, engage their interest, and

invite them into the story.

Explanation of the styles of booktalks: I will be using three different booktalk styles today.

The “First Person” style is when the speaker becomes one of the characters in the book and talks

like that character. The “Description” style is when I will share something interesting the

character did and/or one of the funny or scary incidents in the book. It will focus on an element

in the book that will pique teens’ interest in finding out more. Finally, the “Excerpt” style is

when I will read an excerpt from the book.

Theme: A couple of months ago, a guy who'd been harassing and threatening Joe for a while

pulled a gun on him as he was walking home. Luckily, the police arrived and no one was hurt.

But lately Joe has been feeling on edge. Sudden noises make him jump, and he's changed the

route he takes. The worst part is that he can't stop thinking about it, even when he's trying to do

something else. In fact, he finds it tough to concentrate at all these days, and things he used to

love — like playing games online or getting together with his band — just don't seem like much

fun anymore. After experiencing a traumatic event, people can have lasting problems known as

posttraumatic stress disorder.

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What Is PTSD?

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the development of symptoms following

exposure to a traumatic event. Any kind of extreme stress can lead to development of PTSD.

Typically, it involves direct personal experience that involves threatened or actual death or

serious injury, witnessing a stressful event, or learning about an unexpected or violent death or

injury to a family member or close friend.

Traumatic events that can be experienced directly include assaults, serious car accident, a

natural disaster like an earthquake, personal assaults and abuse, terrorist attacks, and military

combat.

You don't have to be hurt to experience PTSD. Witnessing any type of personal or

environmental disaster, being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, or being threatened

violence or being hurt can lead to PTSD.

Most people feel super-stressed after going through something traumatic. Strong

emotions; feeling easily irritated; jitters; and trouble sleeping, eating, or concentrating all can be

part of a typical and temporary reaction to an overwhelming event. Also, frequent thoughts and

images of what happened, nightmares, or fears can be a part of recovering from stress.

Taking good care of yourself and getting support and help from others after going

through something like this can help these symptoms run their course and go away within a few

days or weeks and allow one to feel better and move on.

But PTSD is different. When someone has PTSD, the symptoms of stress are intense and

last for longer than a month. For some people, the symptoms of PTSD begin soon after the

trauma, but others have a delayed response.

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PTSD is treatable. Some people learn that in the process of healing from trauma they

discover strengths they didn't know they had, or a support network that they didn't know was

there. Others find that treatment helps them develop new insights into life and how to cope with

other problems. All of these books booktalked today include characters that deal with PTSD and

sheds light on the disorder and has given teen voices for the young adult audience who may also

be dealing with this infliction. We will begin with The Freak Observer, with sixteen year old Loa

Lindgren who is dealing with death, life, astrophysics, and finding beauty in chaos.

Title: The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston (Excerpt)

Booktalk 1: The Freak Observer focuses on sixteen-year-old Loa and her struggle with loosing

her sister, and the tragedies that seem to surround her. “I got up and went to school because

nobody said I couldn’t. I have a little yellow green blush of bruise under my jaw. It’s a nice piece

of evidence for the physics of force. Once that energy was distributed along the rubber

doohickey on the toilet plunger, the impact pressure was reduced. I could raise my hand and tell

the whole class what I learned about pressure and force when my dad clobbered me. It would

reinforce today’s concept. I have been observing physics in action, just as instructed. I don’t raise

my hand. I don’t say a word…I’m in school, but I don’t even make it through my first class

before I receive a little note informing me to visit Mrs. Bishop in the counseling office.... ‘Loa,

come on in,’ says Mrs. Bishop. ‘I understand you were friend with Esther.’ She has to get right to

the point. There is only one of her, and there are a lot of students. What do I say to that? We rode

the same bus. We went to grade school together for nine years. I know Esther liked pink

meringue cookies.

Esther is dead now… The last I saw her, she was standing at the top of the cutbank. What

she was thinking then or what she was thinking when she ran down the bank, I do not know. I

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told them that. I heard tires squeal. I heard a crash that went on and on. By the time I ran partway

down the bank toward the highway, the logging truck was jackknifed at the bottom of the hill.

His load had broken loose, and some of the logs were still shifting, still moving to the place

gravity wanted them to be. The trucker had his door open and was kneeling on the pavement. He

was pretty lucky to have got out of that mess still walking. One of his logs could have moved

right through him on its trajectory. I could hear him yelling, but I couldn’t figure out what he was

saying. It was kind of broken up and hard to understand because he was puking. He was still

trying to say something, but the words were lost in gagging and spitting. I was so distracted by

that guy that I didn’t see the rest of the picture right away. Then I saw Esther. My first thought

was Her heart has fallen out of her body. I didn’t know that could happen. I didn’t know what to

do. So I just froze there on the cutbank. I don’t know how to put a heart back into a body. It was

the only thought I had, and it wasn’t very useful. It seemed like a long time, but it wasn’t really,

because Abel was right behind me, and he pushed me out of the way. I slid down the bank in the

loose dirt and rocks. Then I just sat there where I fell. I watched Abel while he grabbed his sister

and tried to make her be alive…

There is nothing special about me. PTSD is common. They used to call it shell shock a

hundred years ago almost. It happens to a lot of people—guys who come back from war, rape

victims, little kids who lived through hurricanes—they all have to deal. If they can deal—

otherwise, they lose it and end up like that crazy gray-haired Vietnam vet who lived in a culvert

until he froze to death. Thinking about the images they see, the nightmares they have, it makes

me feel like a coward.

The minster who preached at my little sister’s funeral screwed up her name. The mistake

is completely understandable. We don’t go to church. We just hired some guy to talk that day, I

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guess. Why would he have known? It still gravels my dad, though. Sometimes I hear him saying

under his breath, ‘Her name is Asta Sollija. Not Ashley.’ I thought of that at Esther’s funeral.

Mostly, I try not to think about Asta. It’ll never heal if you pick at it. That’s what I think. But it

was unavoidable today. There were too many memory triggers. (p. 2-31)

Title: It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (Description)

Transition: For eight years, Loa Lindgren’s world ran like one of those mechanical models of

the solar system, with her baby sister, Asta, as the sun. Asta suffered from a genetic disorder that

left her a permanent infant, and caring for her was Loa’s life. Everything spun neatly and

regularly as the whole family orbited around Asta. But now Asta’s dead and 16-year old Loa’s

clockwork galaxy has collapsed. As Loa spins off on her own, her mind ambushes her with vivid

nightmares and sadistic flashbacks—a textbook case of PTSD. But there are no textbook fixes

for Loa’s short-circuiting brain. She must find her own way to pry her world from the clutches of

death. Sad stories can also be beautiful, hopeful and filled with death, life, and finding beauty in

chaos. Craig Gilner, in It’s Kind of a Funny Story, also faces many issues that lead him to

experience PTSD as well. Although he places must of the pressure on himself, he still finds his

life spiraling out of control as well.

Booktalk 2: What would you do to get into the college of your dreams or even land your dream

job? Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner, in It’s Kind of a Funny

Story, sees entry into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his

future. Determined to succeed at life, which means getting into the right high school in order to

get into the right college and then get the right job, Craig studies night and day to ace the

entrance exam, and does. That's when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes

that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he's just average, and maybe not even that. He

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soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig

stops eating and sleeping-until, one night, he nearly kills himself.  Craig's suicidal episode gets

him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a

girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There,

isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the

sources of his anxiety. Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created

a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness. For a novel about

depression, it's definitely a funny story.

Title: The Always War by Margaret Peterson (First Person)

Transition: Suicide and depression are serious issues, as is war. The Always War shares the

story of Tessa. It presents our country with a distinctly dystopian future. The east and west

halves of the nation have been at war for more than 75 years in a battle over water. Behind the

fear, stress, and battles in this futuristic thriller lies a truth more shocking than war itself!

Booktalk 3: For as long as I can remember, my country has been at war; it’s as if it should be

called The Always War. The war has been going on for 75 years. I am living in a world where

everything is dull, dead, and sad from the war. When Gideon wins a bravery award, the

community is finally happy that they have a hero. Gideon is a pilot in the war. When Gideon is

called up on stage, he is presented with a medal. Before receiving the medal, Gideon runs off of

the stage saying that he doesn't deserve the medal and that he is a coward. The crowd was

disappointed. This was the only good thing that has happened to them since the war. I run after

Gideon to see him throwing up in a trash can. I question him on why he didn't accept the award,

and he explained that he is a coward. That night, as I am lying in my bed, I hear taps on my wall.

The taps came from the apartment that was next to mine, and that was Gideon's apartment. The

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same taps were repeating in the same order, and it sounded like Morse code. I looked up Morse

code in my book to find out that he is saying SOS. I want to go over to see what is wrong, but I

can't just go over and knock. Gideon's mom is really strict and doesn't like girls around her son.

She feels that no girl is good enough for Gideon. So, I pick flowers and pretended that I was

delivering them. When Gideon's mom answered the door, I explained that I was ordered to

deliver the flowers to Gideon. I then went to his room and asked what was wrong. He explained

to me why he was a coward. He ordered me to bring him my laptop. Gideon shows me a video of

what happened. Gideon killed 1,000 innocent people in a store. He decided to go back to the

enemy and apologize, even if the consequence meant death. I followed to try to stop him and I

went on the plane. Gideon flew the plane to go to the enemy, not knowing that I was stowed

away. When we reached the war zone, we found out things that the government has been hiding

from the rest of the world. 

Title: Coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by Carolyn Simpson and Dwain Simpson

(Description)

Transition: The Always War will leave readers to ponder the affects of war on our soliders, post

traumatic stress disorder, issues of war and whether we know what the war is about and what are

we fighting for, secrets of the military and what they will do to fellow soliders or civilians to

keep their secrets, what other people will do for each other to protect him or her in

dangerous/war situations, and maintaining hope. In Coping with Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder, readers will get an immense amount of information on the who, what, when, where,

why, and how of PTSD.

Booktalk 4: How does a person even get PTSD and how do they work through it? In this

practical and well-organized overview, the Simpsons first examine the situations that can cause

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post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as natural disasters, rape, sexual and physical

trauma, war, and captivity; they then focus on treatment, including both negative and positive

ways of coping with PTSD, support systems, and therapy. The authors use many real-life events,

such as Hurricane Andrew and the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City, to

illustrate their discussions. They identify the primary signs of PTSD and discuss its

consequences on individuals and their families and friends. The treatment section addresses

many questions that young people might find difficult to ask, such as: What is therapy really

like? How can I get on with my life? How can I help my friend who suffers from PTSD? These

questions and many others are competently answered in a supportive, straightforward, and

encouraging manner. The Simpsons include more specific information about treatment and

recovery and creates a readable and easy-to-use addition.

Title: The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhart (Excerpt)

Transition: Have any of you experienced someone being deployed? In The Things a Brother

Knows, Levi experiences his brother leaving and the changes upon his return. Seventeen-year-

old Levi Katznelson doesn't really know his older brother, Boaz, and he sure doesn't understand

him.

Booktalk 5: “I used to love my brother. Now I’m not so sure. That’s a terrible thing to say.

Believe me, I know it. I wouldn’t ever say it out loud to anybody, not even Pearl. Especially

since everyone else loves him. Even the people who’ve never met him. They can’t get enough of

him. They worship him. I used to worship him too. All little brothers worship their big brothers, I

guess. It sort of goes with the job description. Think about it. Your brother’s face is one of the

first you ever see. His hands are among the first to touch you. You crawl only to catch him. You

want nothing but to walk like he does, talk like he does, draw a picture, throw a ball, tell a joke

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like he does, let loose one of those crazy whistles with four fingers jammed in your mouth or

burp the ABCs just like he does. To your little mind, he’s got the whole of the world all figured

out. But then you grow up. You start thinking for yourself. You make your own decisions and

those decisions change you, and they can even change the people around you, and my brother

made one big whopper of a decision, and in the end, it’s made it really hard for me to love him

anymore…He’s coming home. Sometime tonight. Everyone knows it…It’s been thirteen months.

That’s the last time he came home. He must have had some breaks in there somewhere, some

leave time. But he chose to do something else with those breaks, and we don’t know what it was

or who he was with, or where he went, because somewhere along the road he’d decided that

communication with the family he left behind wasn’t a priority….Hello? It takes an extra beat to

reach me, like it’s coming from the bottom of a well. My brother’s voice. It’s a hesitant hello,

like the speaker isn’t quite sure he’s stepped into his own house. Mom reaches him first…We

stand around grabbing for some part of him, even if only to touch the cuff of his jacket. I feel

Dov’s grip on my shoulder. We gather in a huddle. And then, slowly, wordlessly, we cave in on

each other, seized by a relief so deep it renders us boneless. And in this moment I’m able to

imagine what we look like from the outside. Soldier Returns to Loving Embrace of Family. In

this moment, we are that image. In this moment, I allow myself to believe that everything will go

back to the way it used to be. He has returned. We have returned…He doesn’t come out his home

for three days. (p. 1-18)

Title: Badd by Tim Tharp (First Person)

Transition: Like The Things a Brother Knows, in Badd by Tim Tharp, Cassie has to deal with

her brother Bobby coming back from war. She has to deal with the changes in her brother and try

to figure out what he is really going through.

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Booktalk 6: In Badd, I go through a lot. I have never been pretty or popular, but I know who I

am: I am the younger sister to Bobby, the most charming bad boy in town. Bobby's a bit wild,

but with his big heart and sense of fun, everybody loves him. I have always been close to my

older brother. It's been us against the rest of the world, or at least the rest of our family.

Unfortunately, when Bobby's mischievous ways lead to the point of a joyride in a stolen car, a

choice must be made. Our parents chose the military over jail for their errant son. With the

exception of leave time, it's been years since I have been together with Bobby. He is expected

home soon, and I can't wait to pick up where we left off. Surely after returning from Iraq, Bobby

will be ready to party and enjoy his time with me. The summer starts with our parents

announcing that I will be working for my Uncle Jimmy. I’ll be slapping paint on whatever

project he assigns, but that's better than the job my little sister, Lacy, gets. Lacy will be living

with their grandmother several hours away. She'll be taking care of the ungrateful woman while

she undergoes chemotherapy. At least, while working for Uncle Jimmy, I will be at home and

able to hang out with Bobby when he gets back. I am shocked when I see someone that looks

like Bobby cruising by with an old flame. It takes some investigation, but I learn that he has

returned from Iraq early but hasn't seen fit to show up and greet his family. When I discover

where he is staying, I confront him and discover that something about him has changed. Bobby's

first meeting with family is filled with tension, and a BBQ party planned in his honor turns to

chaos when he announces that he was asked to leave the military and earned only a general

discharge. I don’t event care about that. I am just frustrated that he is choosing to hang out and

live with Captain Crazy, an old Vietnam protester who lives on a nearby, rundown farm. When a

friend suggests that Bobby may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I am quick to

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defend my brother and deny the possibility, but as time passes, I realize there might be some

truth to the suggestion.

Conclusion: We live in a society that values and teaches the importance of self-reliance, inner

strength, the ability to overcome adversity. In fact, it is common to feel that no matter what

we’ve faced, no matter how extreme the ordeal, we should be able to get over it and eventually

move on to better, happier, greater things. But what if, after something terrible has happened,

you find that you simply cannot “move on?” Many of us have had a traumatic experience — the

death of a loved one, serious illness, divorce. At the time, we may have been very upset, or

frightened, or sad. But usually the grief passes, the pain lessens over time, and life eventually

becomes more normal. But sometimes people experience life-threatening or life-changing

situations that are so distressing or cruel that the memory doesn’t fade, not even slightly. For

some people, the experience is so extreme that they find they cannot get passed it to move on

with life. Someone who feels this way may be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, or

PTSD, a very real and debilitating health condition. Fortunately, a lot has been learned in the last

several years about PTSD treatment and support. Understanding PTSD and seeking intervention

is important to treating the persistent and overwhelming symptoms, and helping people to regain

their lives. It can be very difficult to watch a loved one or good friend deal with the after effects

of a trauma. Not only do you worry, but your offers of help may be rejected. The person may

seem distant or emotionally numb, or may be struggling with other symptoms that are

characteristic of PTSD. But try not to become discouraged. This person needs you now more

than ever. Here are some things you can do:

Encourage the person to seek and continue treatment. This can be hard because treatment

means confronting the trauma and all of the upsetting and frightening emotions and

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memories connected to it. It can take time to work through it. But your encouragement

and support during treatment will help a great deal. Your involvement and understanding

can help your loved one seek and continue treatment.

Provide emotional support and listen. Encourage the person to share his or her feelings.

Be a good listener, this is part of the healing process.

Be patient and have realistic expectations for recovery. The healing process can take

some time. Depending on the severity of the situation, recovery might take several

months or possibly longer for a person suffering from PTSD. Understanding this will

help you stay optimistic and supportive when it is needed most.

Take care of yourself. Being there for someone who is recovering from a traumatic

experience can be stressful at times. Take time to take care of yourself. Learn how to be

supportive without taking on the role of a therapist.

Even reading the texts booktalked today may help you or someone you know. These characters

and situations may be quite relatable, and even though a book is not a form of treatment, it may

be a good starting point. Just know that it is easy to feel alone when you or someone you care

about is suffering from PTSD. But you are not alone. There is a lot of information available

about PTSD and there are dedicated people affiliated with a number of organizations who can

help with your questions and offer a variety of support services.

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Post Traumatic Stress DisorderBooktalked Titles

Hodkin, M. (2011). The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. (F Hod)Mara doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. There must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends. There is.

Peterson, M. (2011). The Always War. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. (F Pet)Tessa’s country has been at war for 75 years. She has now stowed away on an airplane and is headed for enemy territory. She soon discovers a shocking truth that rocks the foundation of everything she’s ever believed.

Reinhardt, D. (2010). The Things a Brother Knows. New York, NY: Random House. (F Rei)Finally, Levi Katznelson’s older brother, Boaz, has returned. When Boaz walks through the front door after his tour of duty is over, Levi knows there’s something wrong. Boaz is home, safe, but Levi knows that he is not the same.

Tharp, T. (2011). Badd. New York, NY: Knopf Books. (F Tha)Ceejay can't wait for Bobby to return home from his tour in Iraq. But then he turns up unannounced and he's so different. How can she believe in being strong when her hero is broken?

Vizzini, N. (2006). It’s Kind of a Funny Story. New York, NY: Hyperion. (F Viz)Craig realizes that he’s just average. He soon sees his perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and he nearly kills himself. Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital where he must confront his anxiety.

Woolston, B. (2010). The Freak Observer. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Lab. (F Woo)Loa’s world revolved around her baby sister, Asta. But now Asta's dead, and 16-year-old Loa's clockwork galaxy has collapsed. As Loa spins off on her own, she must find her own way to pry her world from the clutches of death.

Similar Books

Doller, Trish. Something Like Normal. (2012). New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA. When Travis returns from Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother's stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he's haunted by nightmares of his best friend's death. It's not until Travis runs into Harper that life starts looking up.

Hurwin, D. Circle the Soul Softly. (2006). New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. Katie has a fabulous new life. It’s a perfect opportunity for a fresh start, but nightmares and dark memories continue to plague Katie's consciousness. In order to deal with the present, she needs to come to terms with the past.

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McDowell, Rebecca. This is Not a Drill. (2012). New York, NY: Penguin Group.Two teens try to save a class of first-graders from a gun-wielding soldier suffering from PTSD. They must work together to calm both the terrified children and the gunman threatening them.

Scott, Elizabeth. Miracle. (2012). La Jolla, CA: Simon Pulse. Megan is a miracle. At least, that’s what everyone says. Having survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Megan knows she should be grateful to be alive. But the truth is, she doesn’t feel anything at all.

Underdahl, S.T. No Man’s Land. (2012). Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.Sixteen-year-old Dov accepts his role as an outcast emo kid; the younger brother of war hero Brian, Dov is generally unnoticed by anyone outside his small circle of friends. His circumstances change when Brian returns from Afghanistan and acting strangely.

Similar Non-Book Items

Harris, E. (Producer). (2012, August 17). PTSD isn’t just a war wound: Teens suffer, too.[Radio broadcast]. Washington, DC: NPR.

We tend to hear about post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in relation to war veterans. But many sufferers here at home haven't yet finished high school. Eyama Harris, from Youth Radio, reports on young people living with PTSD.

House, Silas. (Author/Speaker). (2011, February 22). Eli the Good.[CD]. Grand Haven, MI: Brilliance Audio.

Tensions collide when Eli’s family attends a 4th of July parade. Eli wonders where the Vietnam veterans are and notices a shift in his father. The full effects of PTSD come to a head, and threaten to destroy the family.

PostTraumatic Stress Disorder. (2013). Teens Health. Retrieved November 11, 2013 from http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/ptsd.html

This website gives an overview on PTSD, along with the symptoms that a person could experience. It also discusses who may develop PTSD and the various treatments that are available.

Understanding PTSD. (2013). This Emotional Life. Retrieved November 12th, 2013 from http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/video/understanding-ptsd

Dr. Barbara Rothbaum, Director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine, addresses three fundamental questions: What is PTSD? What are the symptoms of PTSD? and, Can PTSD be treated?

Well, J. (Producer), & Kosminsky, P. (Director). (2002). White Oleander. [Motion Picture]. USA: Warner Brothers.

White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.