Screw You Van Gogh

Kudos to you Jeff Howard. For a debut novel, you've really nailed it. Readers are given a look into the emotional lives of teenagers who often find themselves fraught with dysfunctional families, struggles with mental health issues, adolescent drama, and moments of self-discovery. The story has authentic dialogue and relatable characters. The book title is quite creative with its subtle meaning unfolding in the storyline.    

When a new girl Cassidy moves to town, she doesn't even want to try to become friends with anyone because she knows she and her mom will probably be moving again soon, just like they always do. She's learned the hard way to be a survivor by shutting others out and not getting too close to them. She's figured out that when you leave your friends behind, it hurts too much, so why bother? Cassidy's mom takes her to the new school. The school counselor, Mr. Burns, shows her around and offers to meet with Cassidy a couple of times a week. Meeting someone like Tommi, a classmate, was unexpected. As time passed the girls connected and added into their circle Patrick, Tommi's cousin. Cassidy begins to realize she has friends and can count on them for anything.

As the story unfolds tough topics are addressed. Money issues, bullying, trying to fit in, depression, mental health, and parental relationships are some of the surface issues. But many issues go deeper for some of the characters who feel vulnerable but refuse to discuss their dark thoughts with those that can help them. 

Author Jeff Howard is a school counselor as well as a freelance writer and former English teacher. He has chosen wisely to write a fiction story that will resonate with young people and their parents using real-life issues. The author deals with the challenges facing student-counselor relationships and mental health issues by applying his own real-world experiences thus avoiding a clinical approach to his writing. He cleverly weaves into the storyline the life of Vincent Van Gogh with a puzzle of his work Starry Night. Completing the puzzle serves as a common ground between Mr. Burns, the school counselor, and the new student Cassidy. It also creates an opportunity for them to work together on a project. Along the way, Mr. Burns is able to offer Cassidy encouraging words to try and give the kids a chance when they reach out to her. 

Howard's writing offers messages of hope for young people by encouraging them to seek out help hoping to demystify the deep darkness that comes with physiological pain and childhood traumas.

I highly recommend making available copies of this book for school libraries and classrooms. It's the hope students, teachers, and parents will find Howard's book inspirational and use it also as a discussion tool for raising mental health awareness. 

ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At one time Jeff Howard never thought he would become a writer. Being born and raised in the lake country of northern Minnesota, his passions lay more in the world of fish and animals and woods and lakes. He was given the love of reading by his mother who read to him and his brothers the stories of Dr. Seuss and Laura Ingalls Wilder. As he got older he read every book he could find on nature and natural history. The thought of writing books, though, never crossed his mind.

After a two-year mission for his church in 1976, Howard enrolled at the then called Brainerd Community College and studied natural sciences but took a literature course under famed Minnesota novelist Jon Hassler who encouraged Howard to write. Still determined to find a career in the natural sciences, Howard attended the University of Minnesotan from 1978-80 where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in natural resources communications. For the next several years Howard combined his love of the outdoors and journalism by writing articles for outdoor publications, producing outdoor television shows, and syndicating a weekly outdoor newspaper column.

The income of a freelance outdoor writer was seldom enough to provide for a family of a wife and four children so in 2003 Howard enrolled at Bethel University and earned a Master of Arts degree in English. For the next three years, he taught high school English but saw himself relating to students in a more personal way. In 2008 Howard began his career as a high school counselor and is still serving students in this capacity.

Check out Howard's brand new website https://jeffhowardauthor.com  with information on the Tommi Project, a four-week literature circle curriculum that addresses mental health issues developed by Howard for grades 9 or 10 Language Arts classes.