Out of My Mind
Pat White
language
(Joy Creek Press, Dec. 12, 2013)
From Award-Winning author Pat WhiteWill her mortal enemy become her saving grace?Life is bad enough when you suffer from a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a car, you can’t remember words and are knocked down to the dummy classes at school. But when over achieving high school junior Catherine Westfield experiences post-accident visions that start to come true, she fears they’ll lock her up with the crazies if anyone discovers her secret. Her parents want her back to “normal” but Catherine isn’t sure what normal is anymore. Every time she looks into someone’s eyes her visions kick in, exposing someone’s secrets and fears, and making her feel ever more alone. Just when Catherine thought things couldn’t get any worse, J.D. Pratt, the “bad boy” who hit her with his car, is assigned to be her note taker to fulfill his community service requirement. J.D. is keeping his own secrets about the accident and his home life. As the two teens are forced to spend time together, Catherine exposes J.D.’s secrets and he learns that she is not as strong as she makes others believe. Even though Catherine wants to hate J.D. for what he did to her and J.D. is convinced she is a “princess” who has everything, they soon realize they need each other more than they will ever admit. When Catherine sees a vision of a school bombing while looking into the eyes of her football-hero boyfriend, she finds a reluctant ally and protector in J.D. as the two try to prevent the tragedy. In the end, both learn the value of true friendship, forgiveness and even love.