Aimee [Hardcover]

Mary Beth Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2002

Even though she was acquitted, it seems that everyone-even her own parents-believes that Zoe helped her best friend, Aimee, commit suicide. Now, months later, her family has moved to a new town to escape the stigma of the trial, and Zoe is completely cut off from her group of friends. In her new life Zoe is paralyzed by loneliness, guilt, and anger at everyone's suppression of the truth. As she writes in her journal, Zoe gradually lets readers into her world, a world where parents don't listen, therapists don't help, and best friends betray you. In the end Zoe realizes that she never could have saved Aimee, but she might be able to save herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First-novelist Miller creates an intense psychological drama narrated by a troubled teen recently acquitted of murder charges. The question "Did Zoe really help best friend Aimee commit suicide?" hangs precariously between the lines of Zoe's journal, where (according to her psychologist) she is to write about her past, "what you felt, what you thought, what was important to you." Zoe pointedly avoids discussing the fateful night of Aimee's death, but she candidly describes her present emotions. She openly expresses her scorn for therapists, her resentment of her mother, her longing to see old friends (whom she is forbidden to contact) and her avoidance of a girl at her new school (the girl flirts with death the same way Aimee did). Tension mounts as Zoe edges ever closer to the truth about Aimee's death, but details remain below the surface until the cathartic climax, when Zoe finally recaps the horrific chain of events and must determine whether or not the tragedy could have been prevented. While the premise involves extremes of behavior, readers will readily recognize the feelings and conflicts that fuel this engrossing novel. Investigating the tensions between teens and the adults in their lives, the author raises hard-hitting questions that resound all the more powerfully for her refusal to simplify the answers. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 & Up--Zoe is one angry 17-year-old. Having recently been acquitted of assisting her best friend's suicide, she is seeing a court-appointed psychiatrist who has suggested she write the journal that forms this book. The entries slip backward and forward in time and Zoe has complaints about 99 percent of her life. She feels that no adults have ever paid sufficient attention to her wants and needs and that when they DO pay attention they are controlling and stifling and stupid. Given that her family has moved to another town and she is forbidden to communicate with her hometown friends, Zoe has good reason to feel hung out to dry. And given that her parents seem to be hoping that she will get over Aimee's death and the trial and be a happy high school senior, it's no wonder that she's severely depressed. Bit by bit, the story of her old group-their risky behavior (including drinking and sex) and frequent challenges to authority-emerges from Zoe's writing. The lack of genuine communication between the younger and older generations provides the tragic climate for Aimee's suicide and hinders Zoe's ability to recover. Her voice is not always consistent but her unhappiness and her grittiness are difficult to dismiss. There are a lot of issues here that bear addressing, and Miller handles them in a way that teens will easily grasp. By the end, Zoe has even managed to gain some perspective and has decided to get on with her life.
Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; First Edition edition (May 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525468943
• ISBN-13: 978-0525468943
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,017,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up in Michigan, then moved to Pennsylvania to go to college. I finished college at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where I lived for six years. I've been married for 20 years and have four kids who are the delight of my life. Really! We live on a hill in the woods in a small town in what I've always called the back end of nowhere. I downhill ski with my kids when the planet's acting like global warming isn't happening, which is becoming less often. I love traveling but hate taking the same pictures as 4 million other tourists, so I take the back roads and never go on those bus tours where they drag you to fourteen cities in two days. If I watch tv, it's usually TLC or Discovery Channel or MASH reruns. I'd rather be reading, though.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important book for teens and parents, June 8, 2002

By 

Ronnie Schenkein (Coudersport, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aimee (Hardcover)

This is a valuable book that should be read by teens and their parents. Missed opportunities for communication between adolescents and adults are key to the story, which evolves like a mystery with such suspense that I couldn't put it down. The narrator's voice is very real and poignant. The story has an important message to convey, on the difficult issue of teen suicide.

I think this is a useful book for mental health professionals to read, as well.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Should be a Movie, May 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Aimee (Hardcover)

A Review by Tiffany

Best Friends with Aimee, Zoë did everything that they every wanted to do. They had the cutest boys in the world. The ones that are caring and won't go tell his best friend everything that they did the night before. But one night everyone's life comes to complete stop. Zoë ends up with charges against her and Aimee is dead by her own hand. After everything went wrong Zoë has been herself since. Her family life is torn apart and the one person she ever loved she can't even see him.

I like how this book keeps going back and forth to the past and present. It keeps me reading. It leads up to what she really has now. Her life is a mess. At least her love Chard is still by her side. And that nothing can put them in the way of seeing each other. I learned that every life is precious. That one fatal move can hurt some ones life forever. Mary Beth Miller is one of the best authors. Every page leaves you in a wondering mind. Like what is going to happen on the next page. For a while there I thought it was based on a true story. I think that it should be a movie.

I would recommend this to anyone. All ages should read this book in there life. It might make a big difference.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cry For Help, April 22, 2003

By 

Kaitlin Koontz (Bedford, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aimee (Hardcover)

To begin with, I cannot describe the excitement that suffused my body as I finished the first two pages of the book. I immediately knew the story was going to be a narrative that brilliantly told about the chronicles of a young, teenage girl who was struggling through adolescence because of the many misfortunate events that occurred in her life. This is a fictional story of friendship, loyalty, insanity, recovery and hope that can appeal to almost anyone who has ever lost someone or something special to them.
In the story, Mary Beth Miller tells a chilling account of a young girl named Zoe, who is charged with the murder and accused of assisting her best friends suicide. Though proven innocent Zoe cannot let go of the thought of being tried for such an appalling crime. To get through the chaos Zoe was recommended to a psychiatrist, whom she does not enjoy sharing her thoughts and feelings with. Even though she does not like her psychiatrist, she is to recount in the journal what she went through with Aimee and her posse of friends before and after Aimees death. One chilling fact that was brought to the surface was that Aimee admitted to Zoe and her friends that her stepmother was physically and mentally abusing her. By doing so little by little the events leading up the Aimees suicide were revealed. This was only the beginning of Aimees cry for help, but nobody heard her screams in time to help her. After writing her feelings and thoughts into her journal Zoe had come to terms with Aimees death and was ready to start life over. Zoe changed her way of life and moved on from her past. She now is a scholar student and a state track champion.
I ended up finishing this book in less than two days because the book takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that entices you into reading more and more until you read the book from front to back. I thought this book was excellent in every aspect. I was very impressed with Millers uncanny ability to get into the characters head, while never even knowing the narrators name, which was later found out at the very ending of the book. I believed the characters roles were very well developed and realistic. The only criticism that I had about the characters was about Zoes parents. I felt as though they were not explained well enough and seemed to be one-dimensional at first, but later in the book, I got more insight as to their roles. Although fictional, I felt as though I was reading a true story from someones journal by using the first person perspective to narrate the whole story. To add to this, the author was able to capture even the darkest emotions of the narrator that it made me feel as though the events were happening to me. Lastly, I think the best part about this book is that it brings up issues that plague teens today. Such as, depression, suicide, eating disorders, illegal drug and alcohol use, divorce, and love in a very realistic way.
Overall, I found the book to be an exceptionally good read for teenagers to young adults. For a fictional novel, it was terrific and profound, which made me enjoy it even more. It made me think about life more than usual and how similar events could one day occur in my life. I would highly recommend it for anyone, but I will prepare those who read it to have a box of tissues beside him or her. I say this because you will hear a girl recount her life after she lost her lifelong best friend.