Spears to the Heart is an engaging, fast-paced, realistic fiction novel that brings alive some of the most common mental health struggles faced by youth and families. In plain terms, it illustrates the application of therapeutic strategies as they facilitate recovery. The story opens with a series of group therapy sessions in which seven teens bond and share their personal demons. It then follows them over the next several years as they take on adult responsibilities while contending with family chaos and their own wavering mental health. Jed and Sierra assume the central focus as they wrestle with the needs and demands of their unstable parents. Jed quits his job working for his belligerent father, then must contend his mother's nasty live-in boyfriend. Sierra loses her job and her boyfriend due to her mother's drug-fueled interference. After an episode of self-harm, she begins therapy with a new counselor, finds her voice, and learns how to speak her truth. In the midst of her revived recovery, she finds a box of mementos from the group experience she had as a teen and becomes obsessed with tracking down all the group members to set up a reunion. The result is a poignantly powerful ride, packed with joy, frustration, deep sorrow, humor, and tenderness.
