Linda SchlossbergRezensionen

I didn't enjoy this book at all. It is the story of a very short girl whose mother is suffering from some kind of mental illness - schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, I'd say. They move a lot, she has a sister she loves who runs away, other things kind of happen but they are so forgettable that even though I finished the book last night, I don't remember what they were. The ending was absolutely terrible and all I could think was that this is absolutely not how mental illness works.

Readable coming of age novel about a teen with a mother who struggles with mental illness. The novel focuses on the idea of of fear culture ("stranger danger") in the media. The book reads like a YA novel in both content, form, and style.½

I've tried to read these book on several different occasions, and I just can not get interested in it. I am going to pass it on to someone else who might enjoy it.

Navigating the landscape of junior high is difficult enough for loner Adie, but her mother's psychiatric issues only magnify her sense of alienation and unhappiness. With her mother's history of psychiatric hospitalization Adie battles the stigma of having a "crazy" mother. Adie's mother suffers from paranoia, particularly with regard to illicit drugs. As the 1980s War on Drugs infiltrates the media, this brings Adie's mother to the brink of crisis. She moves the family frequently to avoid the dangers of drugs, and scrutinizes her daughters' behavior, presuming that every little scratch is a track mark. The situations escalates to the point where Adie's sister, Miriam, leaves home, and her mother, Mindy, goes on the run with Adie, trying to outrace the violent drug dealers who she is convinced are following them.

In Adie Schlossberg has crafted an intriguing character. Adie is desperate for her mother's attention, which is occupied by obsessions. I loved Adie's habit of observing the peculiarities of adult speech; that transported me back to my own childhood. I found the book's ending difficult to believe, but it did provide a compassionate portrayal of the effects of a parent's mental illness on a child.½

I was first attracted to Life in Miniature because a friend posted a review of the novel on facebook (she is an old friend of the author and had recently reconnected to her through facebook). I was instantly intrigued as I knew my friend always has interesting literature choice and was then thrilled to receive the book through Early Reviewers. Though Life in Miniature starts a bit slowly, Schlossberg's three women, Adie, Miriam and their mother Mindy are fascinating-each comes with her own set of idiosyncrasies that are more interesting than the next. She sets Life in Just Say No early 80s, which also plays heavily into Mindy's mental illness, and is fascinating for any Generation Xer reading the novel. I can't wait to discuss the novel with my contemporaries!

Life in Miniature is the story of Adie, her older sister Miriam and their mentally ill mother. After Miriam runs away, Adie is left alone with their mother and her increasingly paranoid behavior.
I felt that this book really didn't know what it wanted to be. The beginning of the book made a great deal about the fact that Adie was born extremely small and was very small throughout her life but I never really got what the big deal was with this and felt that the author lost sight of why this fact was important.
The story is told from Adie's point of view and, as she is only a child, we obviously never really find out what is exactly wrong with her mother. I never really felt much of a connection to Adie and didn't feel that the author spent much time trying to show us Adie's feelings or reasons behind her behavior.
Once Adie's older sister runs away, I felt that the book completely lost its direction and seemed to go on and on until the author was finally able to come up with some idea to end the story.
I did enjoy the author's writing style and look forward to future works from this author because I believe with growth and better direction, great stories will come from her.½

The book's narrarator is Adie, a young girl who was born 3 months premature and has always been very small for her age and has trouble making friends and fitting in at school. Adie has an older sister Miriam. Then there's Mindy, their mom. (Dad skipped out before Adie was born.) It is clear early on in the book that Mindy has some severe, for the most part untreated mental-health issues. Adie knows their family is different than other families but doesn't understand why. Mindy spirals downward throughout the book, and Adie is forced to come to terms with the fact that "normal" is not her life. This is a coming-of-age story but also a story of mental illness of a parent and how dangerous that is for the children that are in that parent's care. My heart broke for Adie but also applauded her resilience,and her ability to find her inner strength Very well written and very thought-provoking given the times we live in with the increased cuts to social services and the lack of health insurance.

This is a novel about two daughters living with a mentally ill mother. It is told from the younger daughter’s perspective, which adds to the poignancy. The mother’s paranoia and obsession with the possibility of drugs invading their world haunts the daughters’ lives until the older daughter, Miriam, runs away. This is a pattern within the family with the mother having left without notice to escape her perceived stalkers, and then running away with Adie, the younger daughter after Miriam’s departure. Apparently there were no members of the mother’s family or friends available to intervene on behalf of the girls. I found it difficult to believe that their world was so very isolated that no one was aware of their problems and that they had enough money to travel from one motel to another for weeks. I also was surprised that, when she ran away to find Miriam, Adie found her relatively easily with very sparse clues as to Miriam’s whereabouts.

An honest portrayal of the complexities of women and family relationships, and the legacy of mental illness.