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Almost Lost [Mass Market Paperback]

Beatrice Sparks
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Jun 1 1996

Who in his right mind wants to talk to a shrink? I don't want to talk about anything. I don't want to feel anything, taste anything ... or anything. The lyrics "just dying to die" run around in my brain day and night...

Fifteen-year-old Sam is in pain. He comes to the therapist's office unwillingly, angry, depressed, and filled with guilt over his own self-destructive behavior. He is being drawn deeper and deeper into a black hole of despair from which he sees no way out.

The Road Back

This is the Real-life story of Sam's Recovery, told from tapes of his therapy sessions. It tells what drove him to leave home, how he survived on the street, and why he was desperate to escape from the brutality of the gang that had become his "family" and from the torment of his own self-loathing. For every teen who has experienced the pain and loneliness of a no-way-out darkness, and for all those who love them, here is the light that can lead the way back.


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Product Details


Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Presented as edited transcripts of taped counseling sessions Sparks (It Happened to Nancy) conducted with a 15-year-old patient, Sammy, this book pieces together a sobering story of a boy "almost lost" to depression. At his mother's insistence, the suicidal teenager begins talking to the perspicacious therapist, acknowledging that his inner pain is so deep that "sometimes even my hair hurts." Sammy can be almost astonishingly articulate as he gradually reveals the traumatic incidents from his past that have stripped away his self-esteem and self-respect. The caring therapist provides him with a variety of exercises, charts and "mind games" to help him get rid of the "fetid garbage" he is carrying around: his decision to join a gang in hopes of gaining a "family," experimentation with drugs and alcohol, experience as a victim of a drive-by shooting and his debilitating, unresolved bitterness toward his abusive estranged father. Though the transcripts shape a clearly defined portrait of an intelligent, determined teen, some of the patient-therapist conversations recorded here may seem lengthy and repetitious to the general YA reader. Yet for those coping with depression, Sparks's account provides inspiration, some rudimentary practical tools and a resounding endorsement of the potential benefits of therapy. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up?Sammy, 15, ran away from home in depression and despair, and this is the story of his return to his family and his road to recovery. The book was written from tapes of his therapy sessions. In eight months, he transformed from being a gang member surviving in the streets to the glue that brought his parents together again. He graphically describes his reasons for joining the gang, his initiation, and its activities. The text is mainly a dialogue between Sammy and his counselor and occasionally one of his family members. The therapist uses various psychological techniques such as positive light therapy, optical illusions, positive thinking, etc. It is hard to imagine that the troubled teenager described in the beginning could change so dramatically so quickly and cure his father's cocaine habit, recover from depression, and restore his parents' marriage. Although this book attempts to give troubled students hope and a role model to follow, the scenario described is hardly the norm, and the young man comes across as wise beyond his years in the counseling sessions.?Sandra L. Doggett, Urbana High School, Walkersville, MD
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars No. Jun 20 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book was terribly hard to follow... i dont know if its just me but the whole therepy tape style just wasnt working for me. Plus... it didnt seem real... the realationship between sammy and the lady just sounded so... fake and... like a cheesy script or something. i didnt really like the book.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Could Be Better Jun 5 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book seems very interesting at first glance. But once you start reading it you start to realise how very unrealistic it is, this does NOT seem like it is a true story. It's hard to believe that Sammy comes in depressed and angry the first day yet, seems excited and very willing to get over his problems the next. I was VERY disappointed with this book, the only thing that's the least bit interesting about it, is the story about Sammy's past which doesn't do very much for the whole book.
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3.0 out of 5 stars ok...................but Mar 16 2004
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
THIS WAS OK BUT IT HAD ALOT OF OVER DRAMATISING FEATURES IN IT. I THOUGHT THE BOOK WAS VERY INTERESTING IT HAD ALOT OF MEANING TO IT BUT WAS WIERD. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SHRINK AND SAMMY WAS WEIRD. I DIDNT UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WOULD SAY GOOD MORNING SUNSHINNING SAMMY? THAT WAS WIERD TO ME THEY SEEMED ALOT CLOSER THAN WHAT THE BOOK TELLS.
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Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars It was ok
This was a good book, but it was kind of boring to me. All Sammy did throughout the book was go to a phsychiatrist's office. Read more
Published on Nov 11 2003 by "soccerblondie"
5.0 out of 5 stars my reading book
almost lost is a true story of an anonymous teenagers life on the streets. I like this book because I like to read books that are true like this book and the book named what... Read more
Published on Oct 17 2003 by gabriela
2.0 out of 5 stars too unrealistic
When I first saw this book at Border's I thought it looked really interesting. I mean I can relate to the whole suicidal thing and depression. Read more
Published on Oct 14 2003
1.0 out of 5 stars Plu-ease....
I hated this book. I haven't even finished it, which is odd for me because I usually finish my books.
But, really. Read more
Published on Jun 8 2003 by John Galt
3.0 out of 5 stars Eh. "Realistic"?
I looked foward to reading this book. It seemed very intereasting- suicide, life on the streets. I was wrong. As someone suicidal, I know it's not that easy to get over it. Read more
Published on Aug 18 2002 by Chen
3.0 out of 5 stars Almost Lost
Well , I was sort of dissapointed with this book. I expected it to be a book about a kid on the streets not about a kid suffering through depression. Read more
Published on Sep 8 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars A Story/Therepy Session that will make you cry!!!
This book was absolutely Fantastic! At first, the book was kind of, well, boring. It starts out as a therepy session for a kid and his life on the streets. Read more
Published on May 30 2001 by Samantha
5.0 out of 5 stars It was excellent!
I thought that the book was great. I am going through in a way what Sammy was going through right now. I've thought about blowing out my candle. Read more
Published on April 16 2000
4.0 out of 5 stars VERY GOOD. *clap*
When I picked this book up and started to read it...I thought it was pretty boring. But I was determined to finish it. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Dr. Read more
Published on Mar 11 2000 by Rose Mathew
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW
When I first started the book, I thought it was boring, but I was determined to finish it. As I got through it...it became so interesting that I couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on Mar 5 2000 by Rose Mathew
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