It’s a chilling fact that suicide is today’s number two cause of death for young people. Arcadia is a story about suicide, but it’s also a story about life. This is the fascinating tale of a suicidal teen named Jacob Harper, told vividly and unforgettably by his loving father. It’s a journey through Jacob’s private world of torment, disappointment, fear, humor, hope, love, and finally, success. … success. Arcadia is as relentlessly personal as it is entertaining, and as honest as it is encouraging.
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I am very happy to say that once again Mark Lages has weaved another wonderful story told by a second party. A story told by Stan Harper about his son Jacob. While the story revolves around Jacob and his attempted suicide, what we get is a re-examination of Stan’s life. We do get an insiders view of how Stan’s life, his choices and decisions have led to the moments in the story, sadly I don’t think Stan saw them and there is the story’s lesson to us all. A story of despair and desperation, Arcadia is also filled with hope, faith and unconditional love.
Like other books by Mark, the characters are well rounded, unique and deep. The story is multifaceted and well paced.
Mark Lages NEVER disappoints me with his writing. It is a great book and it kinda educated you about the second cause of death among young people. That my friends is suicide. With experience in this field among friends and family, everything in this book is spot on but we.had cops watching us at home and hospital. This book had very good family values to follow and I LOVED the book even though I have been slow at reading it. The beginning starts our sad but it does end with a very happy ending. Let’s just say no one died. That is what makes it a happy ending. Mark is a great writer!!
Arcadia is an amazing novel about a young man named Jacob Harper, who attempts suicide at the age of seventeen, and the book is written by author, Mark Lages. The story is told by Jacob’s father, Stan Harper, and it describes how mental illness effects not only the person diagnosed with the illness, but also how it effects that person’s entire family. Stan loves Jacob very much and he describes, in great detail, all of the wonderful things about Jacob; (for example Stan shares with us many of Jacob’s very interesting and extremely well written poems that he has saved since Jacob was a young child). Stan tells us about how very smart Jacob is, what a great sense of humor he has, and the unique perspective Jacob has concerning many different topics that he has thoroughly researched just because he wanted to know about them. But Stan also goes into great detail about how Jacob never seemed to fit in with other children his age, and how very depressed Jacob became through out his adolescence. This story is a roller coaster ride through Jacob’s and Stan’s lives; it had me laughing and crying as I read this book, and I could not put it down!
Mark Lages is a brilliant story teller, and I look forward to reading more of his novels and short stories. Arcadia is a book that I think everyone should read, not only because of what you will learn about one family’s experience with their adolescent son’s suicide attempt, and their experience with our country’s “hit or miss” mental health system, but mostly I think that this book should be read because it is very entertaining! I really enjoyed this book!