Book of Jude, The

ALAN Review, Winter 2009 by Gatewood, Rachael

The Book of Jude by Kimberly Heuston Front Street, 2008, 217 pp., $17.95 Mental and Emotional Health ISBN: 1-932425-26-8

The reader follows Jude through her attempts to cope when she reluctantly moves with her family to Czechoslovakia.

Judith Grace Wheelock is a 15-year-old girl who goes by the name of Jude. Her Mormon family moves to Czechoslovakia unexpectedly when her mother receives a Fulbright scholarship to study there. Jude is upset by this drastic change and cannot seem to understand why her mother, father, twin sister, and younger sister seem to adjust to their new lives so well. Jude's incapability to cope with the move leads her into a series of uncontrollable episodes that culminate with her stealing and wrecking the family car.

This lands her in a psychiatric hospital where she learns she has Borderline Personality Disorder, which means she does not react well to trying times because she is unable to draw support from her past fond memories. She finds hope in the comfort of a loving family, a secure belief system, and wise old friends.

Rachael Gatewood

Fayetteville, AR