Facing Demons Ain't Easy

What do you do, where do you turn, when you have no hope, when you think that you have nowhere to turn? Facing Demons by Ashley Sanders is a fascinating, page-turning YA novel which explores the turmoil-filled, tumultuous lives of four teenage individuals who face tragic and desperate situations, and the often self-destructive decisions they make, that lead them to the brink of wanting to end it all. It's also about how they all wind up at the Anchor Beach Rehabilitation Clinic, ran by Blake Solomon, and how their lives are changed for the better. As the title suggests, they each have to face their demons before they can conquer them. We get to learn very dramatically about the four people's lives because each one tells their tales in the first-person, present tense. The stories of Jason (a gang member), Rebecca (a drug addict and child prostitute forced into it by thugs who keep her doped up), Matthew (a homeless African refugee living on the streets), and Felicity (a reckle
ss, high-risk taking, rich kid who cuts herself), will live with you long after you finish the book.Blake Solomon gets a second chance at life when his metastatic cancer goes into remission in the prologue of Facing Demons. That's a big reason behind why he wants to give other people a chance, also. He's a great character, because though he has doubts like all people do, he keeps his resolve strong, despite some setbacks he experiences with the four other main characters. He deals with their problems in a kind, concerned, attentive manner, and it's apparent he deeply cares for his patients and wants to help them succeed on their road to recovery. Blake is described as looking "a bit like George Clooney, even has the stubble, but with a few more streaks of grey in his hair."The stories of the characters Rebecca, Jason, Felicity, and Matthew are introduced in the novel's first chapter, "Their Stories." They present their lives in stark and honest vignettes that are powerful an
d moving, and the author makes them come alive for the reader. I feel fortunate that my two kids, one now seventeen and one who will be twenty-one soon, have not had to handle the problems and face the terrible situations that the teens of Facing Demons are forced to confront.Rebecca, for instance, realizes as she's being used by criminal figures as a prostitute that she's heavily addicted to drugs. Though doing without them causes her to experience withdrawal symptoms, she decides to do just that, and hide the hypodermic syringes full of drugs that are given to her, until she has enough to carry out her plan of "escaping" from them through injecting several syringes full of drugs into her scarred veins, one after another, hoping to die from an overdose. She passes out, and doesn't remember much after that.Jason is a violent gang member who beats up any rival gang members who infringe on his gang's territory. He has scars from several past battles, and many tattoos he displa
ys proudly. He tells us that he was not always like he now is, but that he became a gang member "when my family was murdered by a vicious Negro gang." Since that time, he says that he has hunted the killers down, and that: "They are now all in jail, two of them paraplegic." He wouldn't likely have ever wound up at the Anchor Beach Rehabilitation Clinic, if it hadn't been for eventually meeting up with someone who shoots him.I won't get into the reasons why the other two teens who are the focus of Facing Demons wind up at the clinic; I don't want to reveal any further information that might spoil your enjoyment of this finely crafted novel. When you read their stories, you'll wonder how the teens managed to last as long as they have, before they fall under the care and guidance of Blake Solomon. It's lucky or by God's good will and grace that they end up at the Anchor Beach Rehabilitation Clinic, for if they hadn't have made it there, they likely would have become casualties
of their fates, their lifestyles, their poor decision making skills, and their backgrounds.Facing Demons is an inspirational novel about teens facing some very desperate circumstances, of their own making, and much that is beyond their control. It is a great book that will move you profoundly as you read it, pull at your heartstrings, and perhaps jerk a few tears from your eyes. It's a novel that I recommend for any teens, though perhaps specifically for any teenager who is going through similar problems in his/her own life. Facing Demons is also a perfect novel for parents to read, along with their teens, and then use it as a tool to open up meaningful dialogue with them. If you like reading page-turning, touching stories of hope in spite of sometimes having to manage with the crappy hand that life has dealt you, I would highly recommend that you check out Facing Demons by Ashley Sanders today!

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