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Like a Thorn | 
 enlarge | Author: Clara Vidal
Creator: Y. Maudet
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $2.39
You Save: $12.60 (84%)
New (33) Used (12) from $2.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 2428714
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0385735642
EAN: 9780385735643
ASIN: 0385735642
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
MÉLIE’S MOTHER IS sometimes nice, sometimes mean—prone to erratic behavior that Mélie does her best to cope with. As a young girl, she invents rituals to protect herself from her mother’s moods; but as Mélie becomes a teenager, the years of tiptoeing around her own home take their toll, and Mélie sinks into increasing unhappiness. No one understands her situation.
No one understands that Mélie is treated like a thorn in her mother’s side. Since Mélie’s mother isn’t capable of change, it’s up to Mélie to find the strength to break free.
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| Customer Reviews:
 How can she survive as a thorn in her mother's side? September 7, 2008
Clara Vidal's LIKE A THORN tells of Melie, whose mother is prone to erratic behaviors that Melie has devised rituals to cope with. The work as a young girl but now that she's becoming a teen she's increasingly unhappy: how can she survive as a thorn in her mother's side?
 A fascinating look at mental illness 3 1/2 stars August 24, 2008
Melie feels like she has two mothers. Rosy Mother is sweet, loving, vivacious, and likes to bake cookies. Dark Mother is taunting, angry, impatient, and likes to dig her talons into Melie's skin. Naturally Melie prefers Rosy Mother and would do anything to get her to stay, including trying to be as good as possible, performing strange rituals, and playing sick.
The slim volume chronicles Melie's gradual descent from a normal 9 year old into a 14 year old suffering from deep depression and a serious obsessive compulsive disorder, both stemming from the emotional abuse she receives from her mother (who seems to have psychological problems of her own). The relationship between Melie and her mother is obviously toxic and both would benefit from therapy, but no one seems to notice or take Melie seriously.
This is a fascinating, almost trance-like look into the mind of someone suffering from mental illness, but it's very one-sided and stacks the sympathy deck overwhelmingly in Melie's favor. I would have liked to have seen the mother's problems addressed as well to understand why she had such a split personality.
Like a Thorn was published in France in 2002, and was released in English translation this year in June.
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