Persist

by Melvin Burgess, Cathy Brett (Illustrator)

Trapped in a coma, Marianne hears a woman - locked in sadness - visit her every day. It's her mother and she hasn't given up hope, not yet, even though it's been so long, too long, since her daughter opened her eyes. Can they both persist, can they both keep fighting, long enough to find one another again?

A haunting, powerful drama from Carnegie Medalist Melvin Burgess. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+

Genres: Young Adult, Psychology, Illness, Grief, Family

54 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2015

About the author

Melvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known children's books of the decade.

Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...

Reviews

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 Words: Perfect length for a cuppa.

Cute little read, and it was quite sad at first, but rather uplifting at the end. There was a lot of emotion packed into the pages.

The illustrations were a nice touch, matched fantastically with the story.

[Loren Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story, written well for all audiences. The illustrations were great too and I think it’s fantastic that books like this exist to help people with reading difficulties. I didn’t know when I loaned it that it was specially made but regardless, I’m glad I read it.

[Sophie Snowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sensitive subject but I loved this book!

[Joey Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told in two perspectives from Marianne and her mum, Marianne is in a coma like state unable to move, speak or anything. Her mum wants her to wake up, she visits every day hoping one thing will jog her memory and she’ll come back.

This was such a good book, so unique and clever. Reading the story through the girl in the coma, her struggles, her thoughts, her perspective on who she was, who everyone else was. I also liked seeing how much work her mum put into trying to help her, to bring her back, she just loved and missed her so much.

The two things that I was sad about were that we didn’t find out why she was in that state in the first place which was really sad, the second thing was that it ended too soon, I would have loved reading a little about her recovering, coming back to being Marianne as she’d been so far away from her in the coma, it would have been really interesting to see the transition.

Overall I honestly loved this book, it was so creative and different, I’ve literally never come across a book written this way, with this topic at all so it was a great book to read.

[Natasha Giuliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read with a morning cup of tea.
The book is about a sensitive matter, a girl in a coma, her mother refusing to give up and let go. Quite a sad emotional read, especially as a parent, however, an uplifting end with hope and promise.

[Venom Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read - it was okay.

[Hilde Kathrina]

Better than expected, considering the back-cover text. Kind of an open ending too, which is definitely not what I expected.

[Ak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snabb läst på jobbet på Svenska. Svenska titel Stanna kvar.
En medelsvår bok stilmässigt. Men ganska avancerad innehållsmässigt. Skulle funka att läsa högt tillsammans med högstadie, gymnasie eller läsa tillsammans i en SF utbildning.
Den handlar om Julia och Marianne. Marianne ligger i koma och vet nästan inte vem hon är. Julia är hennes mamma som försöker få kontakt med sin dotter. Boken blir riktigt otäck och spännande när läkarna vill att de skall avsluta de livsuppehållande behandlingarna. Vad skall hända med Marianne?

[Kirsikka71 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about Marianne who is in a coma and her parents who are not ready to let her go.

[Sarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyhyt, helppolukuinen ja koskettava romaani tytöstä, joka on ollut pitkään koomassa. Marianne on noin 15-vuotias tyttö, jonka perhe käy katsomassa häntä sairaalassa. Perhe puhuu koomassa makaavalle Mariannelle kuin hereillä olevalle ja yrittää toiveikkaasti saada tätä heräämään. Lääkäri ei kuitenkaan anna toivoa heräämisestä. Lukija kuulee samaan aikaan Mariannen ajatukset, joissa tuttu ja tuntematon Marianne vuorottelevat. Kirja on kuvitettu.

[ida iann · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is not a book. if someone tells you this is a book, they are either 4 or lying