Elizabeth Scott (Living Dead Girl) probes the psychological complexities that accompany surviving a traumatic experience by taking readers into the mind of Megan Hathaway.
"Miracle"--that's what everyone calls her. Just for surviving a plane crash she can't even remember--a crash in which everyone else died. Megan, high school senior and soccer star, walks away from the crash site with only a few scratches and bruises. But inside, she is far from unscathed. She is plagued by flashbacks, hallucinations, a fear of trees, insomnia, amnesia regarding the accident and the oppressive worry that she'll let everyone down by not being the perfect "miracle" girl. Megan constantly turns over in her mind the event and how she should feel. She grows increasingly withdrawn until two unlikely people--trauma survivors in their own right--reach out to her, helping Megan begin the difficult climb back to "normal."
Miracle is a quiet, reflective story with many dark corners into which Scott pushes her characters and readers alike. Yet she takes care to arm them with flashlights so that they are sure to find their way home and encourages the use of a buddy system. --Julia Smith, blogger and children's bookseller emerita