Girl in the Shadows and Resilience and coping strategies in contemporary young adult fiction (a novel manuscript and exegesis) By Maree Kimberley (Bachelor C.I. – Creative Writing QUT) Creative Writing and Cultural Studies Discipline Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology Submitted in fulfillment of Master of Arts (Research) 2009 Key terms Resilience, Mental illness, Adolescent brain development, Trauma, Child abuse, Coping mechanisms, Young adult literature, Creative writing, Thesis, Masters ii Abstract The novel manuscript Girl in the Shadows tells the story of two teenage girls whose friendship, safety and sanity are pushed to the limits when an unexplained phenomenon invades their lives. Sixteen-year-old Tash has everything a teenage girl could want: good looks, brains and freedom from her busy parents. But when she looks into her mirror, a stranger’s face stares back at her. Her best friend Mal believes it’s an evil spirit and enters the world of the supernatural to find answers. But spell books and ouija boards cannot fix a problem that comes from deep within the soul. It will take a journey to the edge of madness for Tash to face the truth inside her heart and see the evil that lurks in her home. And Mal’s love and courage to pull her back into life. The exegesis examines resilience and coping strategies in adolescence, in particular, the relationship of trauma to brain development in children and teenagers. It draws on recent discoveries in neuroscience and psychology to provide a framework to examine the role of coping strategies in building resilience. Within this broader context, it analyses two works of contemporary young adult fiction, Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates and Sonya Hartnett’s Surrender, their use of the split persona as a coping mechanism within young adult fiction and the potential of young adult literature as a tool to help build resilience in teen readers. iii Table of contents Statement of Original Authorship v Acknowledgements vi Creative Work – a novel manuscript: Girl in the Shadows 1 Exegesis – Resilience and coping strategies in young adult fiction 257 Introduction 258 Section one: literature review 261 i. Brain development 261 ii. How trauma affects brain development 263 iii. Adolescence and the emergence of mental illness 264 iv. Resilience and coping strategies 266 Section two: case studies – the split persona 270 Section three: creative reflection – reconciling the split 277 Conclusion 284 Bibliography 286 iv Statement of original authorship This work has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this work contains no material previously published by another person except where due reference is made. Signature: _________________________________ Maree Kimberley Date: _________________________________ v Acknowledgements Many thanks to Associate Professor Sharyn Pearce, who encouraged my first attempts at writing for children and young adults while I was an undergraduate student, and who has always been a strong source of support and inspiration. Thanks also to Dr Vivienne Muller for her wise words, support and encouragement. Many thanks to Kelleigh Ryan who was a constant source of knowledge on all matters psychological and who pointed me in the right direction when I had no clue what I was looking for. Thanks also to Leah Meager Andersen for her support, encouragement, feedback and proof-reading skills, to my sister Claire Mason for always taking my characters seriously and to Judith Cheyne for her ongoing interest and support. And of course, love and gratitude to my original and constant sources of inspiration, my children Jack and Taylor. They are the most important people in my life and have never given up on me even when I’ve been at my craziest. vi vii Girl in the shadows Maree Kimberley Chapter 1 Tash hovered her hands above the cards spread across the thick cream rug on her bedroom floor, her gold rings glinting under the crystal light. The rest of us - me, Jules and Erin - sat sprawled behind Tash like bored back-up singers. We’d been at Tash’s since five, trying to pick a local artist to be the subject of our English doco assignment, and had already agreed on our favourite. But Tash couldn’t—or wouldn’t—decide. I stretched out my cramped left leg and studied the patterns of pink and silver fake jewels edging the full- length mirror on Tash’s ensuite door. Tash was the mirror queen. It was a sure thing that anywhere, anytime, you could catch Tash checking her reflection. Which, with her A-list looks, was always perfect. But even from the other side of the room I could see a redder-than-Mars pimple glowing on the side of my too long nose. That’s the problem with mirrors. Look into one and it’ll show you the truth whether you want it or not. ‘Honestly, Tash,’ Jules picked at the black paint on her fingernails. ‘I know the assignment’s not due for five 1 Girl in the shadows Maree Kimberley weeks but we have to decide on the artist today or we’ll be behind schedule.’ ‘This is 80% of our mark.’ Tash’s gaze didn’t move from the three cards. ‘I have to be sure.’ Erin lay back on the floor and pedalled her netballer’s legs in the air. ‘Please, Tash. Just pick one.’ Tash shook her head. ‘I need more time.’ ‘What I need is coffee.’ Jules stood up and stretched. ‘Come on Tash, it’s time to take a break.’ I put my hands on her shoulders and started to massage. She shrugged them off. ‘Not now, Mal.’ ‘Girls, you’re losing per-spec-tive,’ Jules did a perfect imitation of Mr Fargus, our slightly insane Year 10 coordinator. We all cracked up, even Tash. She flopped forward over the cards. ‘You’re right, you’re right. Coffee and cake it is,’ she mumbled through her shiny veil of blonde hair. ‘Excellent decision.’ I dragged Tash to her feet and pushed her towards the door. ‘Isn’t it great just to hang out for a while without those stupid cards in front of us?’ Erin settled onto the floor cushion and blew on her coffee. 2 Girl in the shadows Maree Kimberley I spread out on the carpet opposite her. ‘I vote we don’t talk about the assignment for the next thirty minutes.’ ‘Count me in on that,’ said Jules. We all looked at Tash as she walked back into her bedroom carrying a silver tray piled with food. ‘Sure.’ She smiled. ‘Except can I just say…’ I was about to run over and put my hand over her mouth but she continued ‘…this chocolate mud cake is to die for.’ She put the tray on her dresser, then spread a velvet cloth over her carpet and put the cake, plates and forks on top of it. ‘A bedroom picnic.’ Erin licked her lips. ‘This is exactly what I needed.’ Jules grabbed herself a slice of cake and stuck her fork into it. ‘Well, what I need is to know who was that guy that Tash was pashing last night?’ ‘Which one?’ Erin blurted. ‘I saw her with at least three.’ A flush of pink spread across Tash’s cheeks. ‘It was my birthday party. Every hot boy owed me a birthday kiss.’ ‘What happened with Andrew?’ Jules raised her eyebrow. ‘Last week you couldn’t stop telling us about the hot 3 Girl in the shadows Maree Kimberley birthday date you had planned for Friday night, you and your older man.’ Tash’s cheeks darkened. ‘That’s over.’ ‘I’m not surprised. Guys his age are so gross. What sort of thirty-year-old freak hangs out on myspace and goes out with a sixteen-year-old girl anyway?’ ‘He’s twenty-eight.’ Tash’s gaze was fixed on the floor. Jules rolled her eyes. ‘Same difference.’ Sometimes it was hard to work out if Jules was socially clueless or just enjoyed teasing Tash. It was obvious that the break-up with Andrew was not for discussion. I threw Jules a ‘shut-the-hell-up’ look but it was only Erin shoving more cake into Jules’ open mouth that stopped the flow of questions. Tash and I tell each other everything—we’ve been best friends for eight years—but when I’d asked her what went wrong with Andrew she wouldn’t talk about it. Her solution to whatever had happened was to pash every boy in sight at last night’s party, even Ben who’d been talking to me all night. The sound of forks scraping on plates made the silence even more painful. We were stuck in a time-freeze of 4 Girl in the shadows Maree Kimberley embarrassment until Erin jumped up and went over to the bay windows. She pulled the curtains aside, leaning her dark curls against the window frame, looking up at the creamy three-quarter moon glowing above the city lights. ‘The moon is gorgeous tonight. Let’s go outside and run around naked under it.’ Even Tash smiled at that. ‘Erin, you really are crazy.’ ‘It’s the moon that makes me that way.’ She waggled her fingers and fluttered them about Tash’s head. Tash grinned and batted Erin’s hands away. ‘I know.’ I ran into the en-suite and put on the new cream designer bathrobe Tash had got from her parents. It was so soft my skin almost melted into it. ‘I’m not going to dance naked but I’ll dance under the moon with you wearing this.’ I shimmied up against Erin and she giggled and twirled around me, waving her arms like a belly dancer.