Technically, Nina: Adolescence is not historical fiction. It’s categorized as simply fiction. It’s also not marketed as young adult fiction, although the main character is fifteen. However, the time period takes place around 1987, so those under the current drinking age might indeed consider it historical fiction. Regardless, I read this beautiful story so I decided to review it here. I purchased this book from the author, Amy Hassinger, at a writing conference I attended in June of 2013.
The year of 1987 wasn’t referenced (or at least I didn’t pick it up) until about mid-book; however, I could tell it wasn’t contemporary by the mention of using the paper card catalog at the library and the lack of mention of cell phones or computers. The story struck me as someone looking back over her teen years, discovering how the past led her to the choices she made, but showing that rather than stating it outright.
The themes of teenage depression and being lost are universal so the uniqueness of this story was how they manifested. In the end, Nina seems okay; she comes clean with her parents and starts medication, leading me to question if it was a brain chemical imbalance causing her problems all along. Therapy is mentioned but there are not a lot of details about it, but do I even need those details? The reader knows the problems centered around Nina dealing with her brother’s loss, exposure by her mother in her paintings and over-reliance on her until her mother didn’t need her any longer, the breakdown of her parents’ marriage, and the guilt over believing she was responsible for her brother’s death. These are obvious, but I’m still wondering about simply coming clean and getting on medication leading to her recovery. But maybe that’s the way it is. I cannot attribute my recovery from teen depression to any one thing; it was just a gradual realization and decision to live. Maybe one just spirals down as far as he or she can go so all there is to do is to pick back up?
Overall, the book was superb. I found the writing quality, pace, plot, and characters excellent.