Phoenix Rising: Or How to Survive Your Life

by Cynthia D. Grant

Helen's death at eighteen from cancer shatters the lives of her parents and siblings, especially younger sister Jessie who tries to cope with her feelings of pain and confusion by reading pages from Helen's diary

Genres: Young Adult

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 1989

About the author

Cynthia D. Grant is the award-winning author of "Mary Wolf" and "The White Horse." She is a popular American author who writes novels about growing up. Her books appeal to young adults who want to read stories about life in the real world. As Grant commented in an interview with Authors and Artists for Young Adults, "Since 1980 I have published ten books for children and young adults, primarily for the young adult category, which is considered age twelve and up. I don't ever sit down and write 'for' children. I'm an adult; I write what sounds good to me." In her novels, Grant tackles difficult social problems such as alcoholism, child abuse, and homelessness. Grant is not afraid to portray violence and other graphic situations. However, the overall message she conveys is that, no matter what the problem, young adults can survive adolescence. After all, Grant said, "Most of us who write for children or young adults know that they read books not only to be entertained, but to be enlightened and encouraged." Her characters are heroes who triumph over tragedy. They are realistic young people who overcome a variety of obstacles, and stand for the winning qualities of righteousness, maturity, humor, and independence. Grant has received important awards for....for her work, including the PEN/Norma Klein Award in 1991.She lives in the mountains outside Cloverdale, California.

Reviews

[Leslie]

This book has everything I wanted as a preteen. It is deliciously overwritten. The teenagers are ultra-poised and ultra-burned; they come off like divorcees on Knots Landing. Everyone is on cue: the peacemaking drunk of a mom, the overbearing/rageaholic dad, the distant older brother, the little sister who’s too depressed to know she’s a knockout.

Every other chapter is an entry from the diary of Helen, the dead older sister; she penned the entries while dying of cancer. Jessie, the little sister, is reading the diary to understand Helen’s death. Helen too is on cue: she’s a mild-mannered virgin who longs to be mother and wife. She wants to be a writer of the Anne Shirley school.Of Helen, Jessie says: “She slipped through our fingers like a sunny day. We thought it’d be summer forever.” O the agony! I was a little disappointed that Helen’s first entry was of the “I-secretly-want-you-to-read-this” variety; a little voyeurism would have been titillating.

I didn’t cry while reading this; I’m not sure why. Reading all these tearjerkers, I realize I’m let down when I don’t.

My favorite characters were Bloomfield, Helen’s stormy stud of a boyfriend, and Bambi, a “chubette” whose “eyes looked like the scene of a tragic forest fire.”

[Sandra Pérez · Rating 2 out of 5]

good book for light reading, would not re-read at all, had some funny lines which salvages the book.

[Sukhmani's Reading Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read this book in my early, early teen years. Over the years, I seemed to have lost my copy of the book, but this story has always been in the back of my mind.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over and over again. It really moved me.

[alyssa carver · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was like the lifetime movie network of my adolescence. two sisters, one dying of leukemia, heartache, heartache, and woe! i probably reread this like a thousand times.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book so many times when I was a kid.It moved me to tears.