Little and Lion

This is a very interesting book for a teen novel.  I am not sure if this is a book I can picture teenagers reading.  The subject matter is very intense.  There is issues of mental illness and sexual orientation discussed, as well as participating in sexual activity and underage drinking and drugs.  It is hard to image that our children have to deal with all these things at such a young age.

Written by Brandy Colbert, the book deals with what it is like to be different within your social circle.  The insecurities of being a teen complicated by be a different color, religion or having a different sexual  preference.  Suzette is a young girl dealing with all those differences, trying to figure out who she is.  Also trying to figure out how comfortable she is sharing all her thoughts with others.  The fact that she is African American cannot be hidden, but she and her mother live as a family with a white Jewish man and his son.  Suzette converted to Judaism and was even Bat Mitzvah because she wanted to fit in with her new family.   But when she gets to boarding school she is not sure she is comfortable sharing the fact that she is Jewish.  It is easy to leave her Star of David necklace in her dresser.  Then she tests out her attraction to both girls and boys.  Being away from home and missing her family she gets into a sexual relationship with her roommate.  She is not sure if this is what is right for her and when Suzette goes home for the summer the friend she never seemed interested in romantically is looking very attractive. 

Colbert talks about growing up in a town where everyone seemed to be exactly the same.  She was surprised by the diversity she discovered when she went away to college and later on, 
"Moving to Los Angeles after college, I was astounded by how different it was from my hometown. People wore what they wanted and their outfits didn’t all look the same. They had varying shades of brown skin and diverse backgrounds to go with them. They spoke multiple languages and observed various religions—or, sometimes, they practiced nothing at all. They were gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender and queer. They talked openly about their physical disabilities and mental illness. Sometimes one person claimed several of these identities at once."

Not sure if author, Colbert is trying to take on too many issues at once when she also adds in Suzette's brother's struggle with mental illness.   Her "brother" Lionel, nicknamed Lion, is dealing with learning he suffers with bipolar episodes.  As they try to balance his medication and accept his mental illness as a family, Suzette, or Little as her brother calls her, has to also choose whether to keep an important secret her brother entrusted her with or tell her parents. 
There are so many different issues being presented in this novel.  There is so much that a teenager is working through or thinking about themselves that maybe at least of the topics touched on in the book could help the reader.  At least there is a lot that could be discussed between a parent and their teen after reading this book.  Though the story os complex, it all seems to pull together nicely in the end.  I enjoyed reading this book.