Close Menu
    Subscribe

    Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection | Book Spotlight

    Bianca SchulzeBy 4 Mins Read Novels for Kids and Teens Teens: Young Adults

    Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection
    The Children’s Book Review

    Fragments Book Cover: Photo by Novel Photographic

    Eight young people navigating high school and beyond, each struggling to hold on – to family, to friends, to a piece of themselves. Soon to be a film (supported by the ACT Government), Fragments moves from a place of disconnection to connectedness. It’s a powerful and timely mental health resource for young people and their families.

    Book Cover Photo by Novel Photographic.

    About the Book

    Fragments Book Cover

    Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection

    Written by Maura Pierlot

    Ages 12+ | 126 Pages

    Publisher: Big Ideas Press | ISBN-13: 978-0645099805

    I feel like I’m a piece, a fragment that’s missing all the good bits, but I don’t know where to find the rest … the parts I need to work properly. I bet they wouldn’t fit anyway. (Lexy, age 17)

    Publisher’s Synopsis: Eight young people navigating high school and beyond, each struggling to hold on – to family, to friends, to a piece of themselves. Perhaps you know them. The bubbly girl who keeps telling you she’s okay. The high achiever who’s suddenly so intense. The young teen obsessed with social media. The boy challenged by communication. Every single day they, and others, are working hard to keep it together. So hard, they don’t see their friends are struggling, too. Through eight imagined stories, Fragments moves from a place of disconnection to connectedness.

    The action of Fragments takes place in the minds and hearts of an ordinary group of young people. Their stories encompass anxiety, depression, neurodivergence, gender dysphoria, social media, bullying, family dysfunction, cross-cultural diversity, and more, culminating in a sense of hope. Although set in Australia, their stories could take place anywhere.

    From the Playwright: Rarely presenting as neat packages, mental health issues often involve feelings and behaviors with jagged edges and blurred origins. Fragments embodies the theme that stress at home, at school, and in life is challenging young people beyond their usual coping abilities, leaving them disenfranchised and vulnerable. So much of adolescent life is spent looking inwards that it’s perhaps not surprising that mental health issues are often internalized. I wrote Fragments to start a conversation. It’s only when we speak openly about mental health issues – without fear or judgment – that we can chip away at the stigma that prevents many people from seeking help. It is my hope that the work will find its way into schools in Australia and overseas. The publication includes a comprehensive Study Guide, detailing activities and curriculum links for English, Drama/Arts, Health & PE, Civics, and more.

    A powerful and timely mental health resource for young people and their families. Essential reading for high school.

    Buy the Book
    Amazon
    Bookshop.org
    Book Depository

    About the Author

    Maura Pierlot is an award-winning author and playwright who hails from New York but has called Canberra, Australia home since the early 1990s. Her writing delves into complex issues including memory, identity, self, and, more recently, mental health. Following its sellout 2019 season in Canberra, Maura’s debut professional theatre production, Fragments is being adapted for the digital space, supported by artsACT. The work is published online by Australian Plays Transforms and in print by Big Ideas Press.

    Maura is a past winner of the SOLO Monologue Competition, Hothouse Theatre for her play, Tapping Out. Her plays have been performed in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, and Hollywood. A former medical news reporter and editor of Australian Medicine, Maura also writes for children and young adults. In 2017 she was named winner of the CBCA Aspiring Writers Mentorship Program, and recipient of the Charlotte Waring Barton Award, for her young adult manuscript, Freefalling (now True North). Maura’s debut picture book, The Trouble in Tune Town won the 2018 ACT Writing and Publishing Award (Children’s category) along with international accolades.

    Maura’s poetry, short stories, microfiction, and essays appear in various literary journals and anthologies. Maura has a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate, each in philosophy, specializing in ethics. When she’s not busy writing, Maura visits schools and libraries as a guest reader and speaker, serves as a Role Model for Books in Homes, and contributes reviews for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s online magazine, Reading Time.

    For further information on Maura and her work, Fragments please visit: https: //maurapierlot.com and https: //fragmentstheplay.com.

    Maura Pierlot Author Photo

    What to Read Next:

    1. Sally J. Pla Talks About Her Novel ‘The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn’
    2. ADHD in HD: Brains Gone Wild
    3. Two Debut Contemporary YA Novels from Albert Whitman & Co. | Book Spotlight
    4. The Orphan of Torundi, by J. L. McCreedy | Book Spotlight

    *Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links that share some commission. Rest assured that these will not affect the cost of any products and services promoted here. Our team always provides their authentic opinion in all content published on this site.

    Share.

    Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

    57 Comments

    4. Sunnymay on

      Mental Health is a topic that has received more press and attention lately. It’s a book to give to teens and for parents and teachers to understand better the emotions and behaviors that may not have a chance to be named.

      Reply
    12. Cheryl Bomar on

      I would love to give this to my daughter-in-law who is a teacher and she could share it with her kids. Thanks for the chance!

      Reply
    16. Trix on

      This sounds like it could help a lot of people! (I think I forgot to comment yesterday, so that’s why I didn’t matk it down for today in the widget…)

      Reply
    21. Mary Songer on

      I want to win because my family is increasing with more children and I think this book would help raise healthier children.

      Reply
    22. Rhonda Martin on

      I would like to read this book. It sounds like what everyone is going through or while. My house recently burned down and I lost both my kindle collection and my hard book collection. I spent a month in the hospital and I’ve wated 6 weeks with no television. I am taken this time trying to read some great books.

      Reply
    52. wen budro on

      I would love to win because this looks like an awesome read.

      I pinned but it will not give me credit for it. Pinterest as wlburro

      Reply
    Leave A Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.