The Break

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Hannah Moskowitz delivers a passionate debut about one boy struggle to make his world sane by being insane. It's a story that I'll never forget! Basically BREAK is probably the strangest book I've read thus far, but it's concept is crazy fascinating. And then when the book is all said and done it hits something so deep that it makes you wonder if it's an issue that really happening. This is a thought provoking book. I know that self-torture is out there, scary but true but to take it this far? Wow! YA isn’t just for the under-20 crowd anymore. And even though Break was published by a children’s imprint, it’s anything but juvenile. Moskowitz has infused a maturity into her work that clearly relegates her in the realm of prodigies—human beings that age shouldn’t know the stuff she’s writing. The story sounds simple enough—a kid hell-bent on self-destruction who finds that breaking his bones provides the rush and release other kids get from cutting, huffing, or drinking. But Jonah, and the life he is surrounded with, is complex and entangled. His baby brother never stops crying, for undiscovered medical reasons; his parents are embroiled in a taut, passive-aggressive, not-in-front-of-the-kids marriage; and his not-much-younger brother suffers from deadly allergies to milk, and pretty much everything else on the planet. Moskowitz’s vivid description of the mother’s sloppy lactation habits alone is enough to make the reader scratch her head and say, “How the hell did she know about this?” Moskowitz writes with a level of profundity unseen in most adult writers I read (and I read a lot), infusing deep psychological underpinnings in the latter scenes of the book where Jonah comes unraveled, or quite literally, broken. Less convincing were the parents. I had trouble accepting that they could be so very bad at looking after Jesse and dealing with his allergies. Or that they could be so blind to the fact that their other son was regularly doing himself serious damage. It’s not that I doubt such parents exist, they just seemed to be a bit over the top with their failing in this book. In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim — police, family, and friends — tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg’s North End is exposed.

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Feeling a little lost in life, Hannah Martin moves in with her best friend Gabby. At a bar, they meet Hannah’s old high school boyfriend, Ethan, and he joins them for drinks. At the end of the night, Hannah has a choice to make: go home with Gabby, or stay a little later and let Ethan take her home. Based on this decision, Hannah’s life will go one of two ways. The book proceeds to tell the story of Hannah’s life from both timelines, ultimately showing how different her life will turn out based on this one decision. The book is thus an exploration of the choices we make, the paths we take, and how to find true love in a world of never-ending possibilities. I liked it, but found it confusing at times. Wanted more of a connection to the story, the characters or both. This is a first novel and this author can definitely write. Hopefully I will find a better connection with her next book. You’re so cruel!’ she says. ‘You try being a little girl’ (she means herself) ‘whose mum is in hospital for months on end with tuberculosis at a time when tuberculosis wasn’t even a thing, when it was years out of date. A little girl who has four younger brothers and sisters, who won’t stop crying, and a big, cold house, which is falling to bits, and a dad who can’t cope. Yes, I have an over-developed sense of responsibility but . . .’Ultimately, I don't feel like things were really resolved at the end. Jonah may have agreed to stop breaking himself, but the family was still so screwed up, and didn't seem to be reaching for any kind of improvement.

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The other thing is that I really wanted resolution with his parents and to some degree I wanted his name cleared as far as all that stuff in the hospital (not trying to do the spoiler thing, here). My only problem with the novel is the ending. The first three-quarters of the book are taut and fascinating. In the end, the novel starts to unravel losing its believability in action that never quite reaches a climax worthy of the previous writing. That said, the book is still worth reading. Katherena Vermette ist selbst eine Red River Métis und in Winnipeg geboren. In ihrem Roman gibt sie den Lesenden viel Wissen über die indigene Bevölkerung Kanadas weiter. Sie berichtet von offenem Rassismus und solchem in Form von Mikroaggressionen innerhalb von Beziehungen zwischen weißen und indigenen Personen, von der Polizei, die auf die Indigenen herabschaut und ihre Probleme nicht ernst nimmt, sie als lästig empfindet und von der ständigen Sexualisierung und dem Missbrauch indigener Kanadierinnen. Gerade letzteres macht auch auf die verschwundenen indigenen Frauen Kanadas aufmerksam und ist gerade mit diesem Hintergrund besonders erschütternd. It's definitely very strange to finish an author's latest book and then proceed to their debut straight after. The six year gap is definitely clear in the writing, yes, but even despite that, Hannah Moskowitz never fails to impress me.In this moving poetry collection, Sana Abuleil communicates to readers all the kindness, wisdom, hope, and acceptance she wishes someone had communicated to her when she experienced severe heartache. Sana reminds us that navigating through pain, we find avenues of hope and beauty to embrace. This is a heart-wrenching, yet deeply satisfying and inspirational memoir on finding meaning and love. Levy spent years traveling the world and telling women’s stories. When she experiences unthinkable heartbreak, she must come to terms with the fact that, like all of us, she lives in a world she cannot control. She shares with readers how she began to live again in the face of uncertainty and in spite of pain. The Break begins when a young mother witnesses an assault being committed outside of her house on a snowy, isolated strip of land in Winnipeg’s North End. While the story centers around this horrible crime, it is not a mystery novel, as it is clear to the reader who the perpetrator is early on. Instead, it is a novel about relationships, particularly the relationships between four generations of Indigenous women – Stella, Emily, Phoenix, Louisa, Cheryl, Zegwan, Paulina, and Flora – who are tied together by blood and friendship. Each woman’s perspective, as well as the perspective of a young Métis cop named Tommy, are woven together in a series of shifting narratives that recount the events leading up to the assault and the aftermath and healing that follow. The large cast of characters can be difficult to keep straight in the beginning, but their voices, stories, and relationships feel incredibly realistic, with each character baring their flaws, fears, struggles, and hopes in a way that resonated with me. The author, Katherena Vermette, however, did a nice job exploring a story about familial dynamics and Manitoban women. This is not a subject I had read about previously and I appreciated the insight.