LoveReading Says
This is Robertson’s second collect of poetry - her work on You Are Not Alone has received funding from Arts Council England’s ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ programme.
The poetry covers many styles and topics – all connected to well-being and mental health. Divided into five sections each section containing diverse poems on a loosely similar theme – though all the poems are very varied and cover everything from what the mind is like to OCD type activities, from belonging to hope, happiness to allowing people space. Such a varied collection will be dipped into repeatedly, as well as being read from cover to cover.
This is the sort of book that should be available in every secondary school and classroom – as so many young adults now are experiencing such a downturn in mental health issues – to know someone is out there who understands and who can help you express these thoughts will benefit many.
This is a collection I can see me delving into regularly – the poetry is striking, beautiful and full of grace.
Tricia Adams
Find This Book In
| Primary Genre |
Poetry
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You Are Not Alone Synopsis
In her second book of poems for young people, Shauna Darling Robertson takes an in-depth look at mental health and wellbeing.
Just like our physical health, our mental health can fluctuate over the course of our lives, or even from day to day. The poems in this collection explore a variety of topics, from how it can feel to live with various mental health conditions, to what it’s like dealing with with the everyday pressures and challenges faced by teenagers and young adults.
Do your emotions feel like mosquitoes ?one minute and breakbeats the next? Does your mind behave like a cross between a cloud and a bulldozer?? Have you ever said ‘fine, thanks’ when how you really feel is heartsick and helpless? Have you bent yourself so far out of shape in the hope of fitting in that you’ve lost touch with who you are? Read these poems and know that you are definitely not alone.
Shauna says, “Young people’s mental health has never been so high on the public agenda, and rightly so. In the past three years, the likelihood of young people having a mental health problem has increased by 50%.”
These poems are thought-provoking, reassuring, heart-breaking, galvanising, funny and hopeful. They embody a diversity of voices and experiences, and also invite us to consider how some aspects of our society might help or hinder our sense of wellbeing.
Whether reading alone or sharing in secondary classrooms or other group settings, these poems are sure to prompt a wealth of reflections and discussions.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781912745173 |
| Publication date: |
30th January 2023 |
| Author: |
Shauna Darling Robertson |
| Publisher: |
Troika Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
125 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Poetry
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| Other Genres: |
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Shauna Darling Robertson Press Reviews
Praise for Saturdays at the Imaginarium;
An astounding collection from one of the best imaginators around. You'll want to stay in the Imaginarium until bedtime. And maybe have a sleepover too.’ - Roger Stevens
‘A beautiful balancing act of the surreal and the graspable, the everyday and the out-of-sight in-the-mind. And always there’s a light in the window to guide you to a home you never imagined before.’ - A.F. Harrold
