“Maybe when we can tell the
stories, however bad they are, we don’t belong to them anymore. They become
ours.” (297).
This quote communicates a main
character’s discovery of her reason for writing letters, which she never
intends anyone to read, in order to process the life-altering events in her
life. Laurel, the main character in Love Letters to the Dead by Ava
Dellaira, is reeling from the recent death of her older sister May. Feeling lost,
confused, and totally devastated, she begins to journal about her thoughts and
feelings in the form of letters to various famous people who have passed away.
Through her letters she makes unexpected discoveries about her life, and is
able to come to terms with past events that she was previously too terrified to
confront. Teenagers reading this story will connect to Laurel’s journey to find
her place in a world that has been turned upside down.
To begin with, sometimes people
feel out of place in their own lives. Like they don’t fit into the idea that
they have, or someone else has, about how life should be. I would go as far as
to say that each and every one of us experiences this at least once in our
lives, and for some of us it is more like a near constant feeling of never
fitting in. If you connect with this idea at all you will find yourself
identifying with Laurel’s struggle to find meaning and beauty in the many
challenges she faces. One quote from the book that I really related to was when
Laurel states “And maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don't
have to be just a character, going whichever way the story says. It's knowing
you could be the author instead.” (165). Laurel finally discovers that she can
choose her own path in life instead of worrying about fitting into someone
else’s idea of how she should think or act. How great is that? While reading
this story, I found myself connecting to so many quotes and ideas. The previous example is just one of many of
the realizations that Laurel has throughout the book.
All in all, I think that anyone can
find something that resonates with them in this story, whether they have
experienced a recent or past traumatic event, or even if they are simply
experiencing the big changes that accompany transitions from one school to
another. During times like these it is
so easy to feel confused and lost and to question our actions and ourselves. It
is so important to find stories like this one to identify with in order to prevent
these changes from making us feel overwhelmed and alone.
