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Moving the Chains
This work of fiction features the real-life mental health organization, Recovery International.
As a freshman, Abby is the star quarterback of her small town's high school football team. When she finds out her family is moving to the big city and leaving behind everything she knows, Abby's latent anxiety becomes a problem that she can no longer ignore. To be successful both on and off the field, she must face stigma and her own fears before her nervous symptoms become crippling. Intertwined in the story, the reader follows Abby twenty years later when she has become a successful professor of psychology. Although her nervous symptoms are well under control, when she is thrown into the limelight, Abby experiences a new wave of anxiety. With the insight she has gained over the years, she works through her symptoms, reflects back on her path since high school, and finds that she still has a lot to learn.
As a freshman, Abby is the star quarterback of her small town's high school football team. When she finds out her family is moving to the big city and leaving behind everything she knows, Abby's latent anxiety becomes a problem that she can no longer ignore. To be successful both on and off the field, she must face stigma and her own fears before her nervous symptoms become crippling. Intertwined in the story, the reader follows Abby twenty years later when she has become a successful professor of psychology. Although her nervous symptoms are well under control, when she is thrown into the limelight, Abby experiences a new wave of anxiety. With the insight she has gained over the years, she works through her symptoms, reflects back on her path since high school, and finds that she still has a lot to learn.
- GenresMental HealthYoung Adult
462 pages, Paperback
Published April 3, 2018
3 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Em Lyons Bouch
2 books12 followersEm Lyons Bouch is a high school English teacher in Pittsburgh. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in English and Anthropology. The first draft of this book was written as her senior thesis. She went on to earn a master's degree in education through Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), teaching for two years in Montgomery, Alabama. Em is currently a group leader for Recovery International and has been a group member since 2006. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband Damian.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 1, 2018
I wrote it, so I guess I'm biased...
I've read a lot of books about mental health and mental illness, and plenty of books deal with hospitalizations and suicide attempts, but I've never read a book about the AVERAGE sufferer. So I wrote one! This is a must read for anyone who suffers from common nervous ailments.
I've read a lot of books about mental health and mental illness, and plenty of books deal with hospitalizations and suicide attempts, but I've never read a book about the AVERAGE sufferer. So I wrote one! This is a must read for anyone who suffers from common nervous ailments.
May 25, 2019
Em Lyons Bouch skillfully incorporates Recovery International slogans and practices in this story of a high school football player-turned-stigma-busting psychologist. The book is well crafted and must have been a labor of love. I flew through it and greatly admire the author's courage and creativity.
October 29, 2018
What is really going on with mental illness
This is "docu-drama" of fact and fiction. Very revealing, thoughtful, and kind. I recommend this to anyone who has ever been anxious or depressed.
This is "docu-drama" of fact and fiction. Very revealing, thoughtful, and kind. I recommend this to anyone who has ever been anxious or depressed.
March 10, 2019
This is such a realistic and hopeful portrayal of anxiety. I wish someone had given it to me in high school- things truly do get better!
February 9, 2021
This was a very powerful book! I hope more people will read this book especially those of the middle/high school age. I think this book can help put a voice to those thoughts and feelings many people feel, but can't or are afraid to share them.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews