Peeling the Onion

By: Wendy Orr

Narrated by: Kate Hosking

Finding yourself in hospital, in a bed full of shattered glass, is traumatic. Coming to terms with multiple fractures and probable long-term difficulties is something else again - slow, painful, full of obstacles and questions with no clear answers. Anna is used to being athletic, popular, 'normal'. Now she feels the layers of her familiar self being peeled away; nothing is normal or easy. Can she pick up the pieces of her life? What part will Hayden and Luke play? And who, now, is Anna Duncan?

©1996 Wendy Orr (P)1999 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Anna's pain, fear, and dissociation from her former self are rendered so convincingly that readers will close the book believing they have encountered a primary source on trauma." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"A gripping narrative, told with smarting honesty." ( School Library Journal)

"Provides a very realistic portrait of the physical and mental adjustments demanded by an accident." ( Midwest Book Review)

As a summary for children, ??????

My school-age son and daughter chose this book from a list for summer reading. I like to know what they're reading so I purchased it through Audible. It is another example of how society and especially the public school school system is molding the minds of our children. In this case, premarital sex. Yes, we all know it happens, but let it be in private. Don't bring it to the attention of our children in a way that subtly condones it. The book had a good storyline without it. I liked the book but disappointed in the end.