Each year on Banned Books Week, I make sure that the books I’m reading are all books that have been challenged and/or banned. This year I chose to read Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. A few years ago I read Love You, Hate You, Miss You and loved it. It was a sad book; heartbreaking, really. But it was also very real (and it had a great message!). Scott took a tragic circumstance and brought it to life in a way that allowed the reader to feel what the character was feeling. After reading that book I looked at Scott’s other books and was interested in reading them. But I put it off for awhile. When I saw this novel while searching through a list of books that have been challenged and banned, I decided to read it this week.
This book is not an easy read. It’s disturbing, it’s uncomfortable, but again, it’s very real. This novel was written simply so each word, each phrase means something. This simplicity also fits the novel. The story reminds me of Joyce Carol Oates, particularly her short story “The Girl with the Blackened Eye” in her collection titled I Am No One You Know, which is a similarly themed story.
