My Life in the Fish Tank

Zinny's world is turned upside down when the phone rings in the middle of the night to inform the family that her older brother Gabriel has been in an accident.  He isn't seriously injured, but his college roommate and friends report he's been acting odd and not going to classes.   In the aftermath of the accident, Gabriel is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Now their parents are going back and forth to the hospital all the time, and even when they are home, they aren't really there.  Her dad spends all his time at work, and her mom quits her teaching job to fight with insurance companies to get appropriate care for Gabriel.  Her older sister Scarlet is angry and frustrated none of the siblings have been able to see him, and her younger brother Aiden is left to his own devices when it comes to homework and everything else.  

Her parents say they should keep this a private matter.  They want to respect Gabriel's privacy and not talk about the problem to people outside the family.  In Zinny's mind, this means it's a secret, and she refuses to discuss anything with her two best friends.  This causes friction in the group, and Zinny finds refuge in her science teacher's classroom and an upcoming animal studies project.  Even when the guidance counselor invites her to join Lunch Club, she doesn't open up about her feelings of frustration and fear.  

With all these secrets, it seems like her family will never get back to normal.  And she may have lost her best friends forever.

Barbara Dee's new novel tackles how mental illness affects everyone in the family and the stigma that still surrounds many disorders.  Zinny follows her mother's lead in this, but it becomes clear through the story that many other people don't see the need for secrecy.  Gabriel is largely absent from the story, but when he eventually gets to have his say, he is not ashamed and approaches bipolar disorder like any other illness.  He is confident he can manage the disorder with medication and move forward with his life.  The book also has flashbacks to times when looking back, Zinny realizes she and other family members may have missed the signs that something was wrong and the guilt they all feel for this.  This is an engaging story and an important book to help remove the stigma of mental illness.  Highly recommended.