DEAD SERIOUS: A Book for Teenagers About Teenage Suicide

by Jane Mersky Leder ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1987

The numbers are frightening enough: every minute, on the average, a young person attempts suicide, and some 5000 succeed each year. What drives people to kill themselves, and what can you do if someone you know seems to be thinking about it? In trying to answer these questions, the author presents several case histories and interviews, then analyzes the incidents, emotions and pressures (as far as they can be known) that finally became unbearable. There is no typically suicidal behavior; at some point, nearly everyone exhibits one or more of the 16 ""warning signals"" that Leder lists, and she points out that, despite plenty of interest and research, ""no one knows why teenagers kill themselves."" Often, timely treatment or even a sympathetic ear can divert an intended suicide; readers will find several clearly described techniques, verbal and nonverbal, for drawing out a troubled friend; and in a final episode, a young woman uses these techniques, then confronts the problem of whether or not to take what she learns seriously. A brief bibliography--half of it fiction--and general information about finding help are appended. A readable, nontechnical approach to the subject.

Pub Date: April 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1987

Categories: CHILDREN'S