MERCY LILY by Lisa Albert

Today we're spotlighting MERCY LILY by Lisa Albert, officially released by Flux on October 8, 2011.

From the publisher's web site:

I take the bees outside, unscrew the lid of the bee jar, and listen to the angry buzzing. "I hate you," I whisper.

Lily's mother has slowly been losing herself to multiple sclerosis. After traditional treatment fails, she uses bee sting therapy, administered by Lily, to alleviate her pain. Lily is trained as a veterinary assistant, so she can easily handle the treatments. What she can't handle is what happens when the bee sting therapy fails and it becomes clear that her mom wants to die.

One beautiful spring day, Lily's mother asks her for the most impossible thing of all—mercy. While navigating first love, friendship, and the other normal worries faced by high school sophomores, Lily also has to choose: help her mom go, or cling to her fading life for all it's worth.

I'm so excited to read this book. It tackles a subject I think I've only seen one other time, and even then it was quite different (WALKING ON GLASS by Alma Fullerton, if you're curious).

Kristi, aka The Story Siren, had this to say: "A beautifully written and heart-wrenching story about friendship, love, and finding the courage to let go. Lily's strength and soul make her a character that you won't soon forget."

VOYA said this in its review: "Teen readers will find this novel both affecting and thought provoking as they identify with Lily's agony and examine their own beliefs."

Lisa Albert grew up in the midwest where she spent many summer afternoons reading at the public library. She is the author of three nonfiction books. This is her first book for young adults.

You can buy MERCY LILY through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or request it through your independent bookstore.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This book really made the unbelievably inept reviewer at Kirkus see red. The reviewer didn't actually review the BOOK. They spent the entire paragraph attacking the ISSUE, or rather what they perceived the author's stance on the issue to be (hint: the reviewer is against Oregon's Death with Dignity Act). Instead of talking about the heartbreaking decision the main character is faced with, or the other dilemmas that are totally unrelated to assisted suicide, the reviewer got on a soapbox and attacked the book AND the author for just tackling the subject matter.

This is a great book. I was lucky to read an advance copy and knew it was something special. Not because of the issues it addresses but because of the sensitive portrayal of the main character and the palpable sense of what she's going through emotionally.

Angie said...

This sounds good, though the fact that she's a veterinary assistant makes me wonder about her age. Is this in the "new" adult category with the teen being out of school and slightly older? I'm definitely curious about it.

Melissa Walker said...

So intriguing... it sounds like it has the potential to be really beautiful!

jc said...

does the mother die?

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