Sharonanne Guest Blog + Contest!!

The loss of a parent during childhood is something only those who have fully experienced it can understand. Losing a parent at such a young age leaves you with this feeling of emptiness than is difficult to describe. It is like you are normal one moment and the next a part of you is gone forever. Willow loses not one but two parents in an accident that she thinks is entirely her fault. Author Julia Hoban does a brilliant job In Willow of making Willow’s grief real. Willow and her emotions leap out of the pages.

I probably found Willow so easy to relate to because of my own past. I was 11 when my father died suddenly from a heart attack. At the time I was so young and I thought that I did something to make him leave. Willow especially feels this way because she was driving the car when both of her parents were killed. Willow handles her feelings of guilt by cutting herself. For a while, in my early teens I handled my grief in much the same way.

This is not something that I usually to reveal to people for obvious reasons. However, I don’t think I can write this post about my own experiences with loss without mentioning it. I went through a very dark period in my early teens very much like Willow. I didn’t know how to release my emotions so instead of crying I would cut myself. Now years later I can look back on my past and see that my dad’s death was not my fault and that it is okay for me to express my emotions.

Willow really was a special book for me because of my past and I really cannot thank Julia enough for writing it! I only wish that it had come out 15 years ago.


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Thank you so much Sharonanne for sharing your story with us all!

If people comment on this guest blog, they will be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com

This is open to whoever Amazon ships too!

http://www.sharonlovesbooksandcats.blogspot.com/