Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Black Box
    Unavailable
    Black Box
    Unavailable
    Black Box
    Audiobook3 hours

    Black Box

    Written by Julie Schumacher

    Narrated by Lynde Houck

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When Dora, Elena's older sister, is diagnosed with depression and has to be admitted to the hospital, Elena can't seem to make sense of their lives anymore. At school, the only people who acknowledge Elena are Dora's friends and Jimmy Zenk-who failed at least one grade and wears black every day of the week. And at home, Elena's parents keep arguing with each other. Elena will do anything to help her sister get better and get their lives back to normal-even when the responsibility becomes too much to bear.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 12, 2009
    ISBN9780739385944
    Unavailable
    Black Box
    Author

    Julie Schumacher

    JULIE SCHUMACHER grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Oberlin College and Cornell University. Her first novel, The Body Is Water, was published by Soho Press in 1995 and was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Minnesota Book Award. She lives in St. Paul and is a faculty member in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at the University of Minnesota. Visit her on the web at julieschumacher.com.

    Related to Black Box

    Related audiobooks

    YA Social Themes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Being Wrong

      Dec 10, 2023

      “I am just not ready to see her, to sit down and eat a meal as if she has done nothing wrong.” Katie spoke to her sister through the cell phone as she rushed to the school to pick up Tommy. “I can see her at Sharon’s shower on Saturday, and I will be

      12 min read

    • Article

      You’ve Got A Friend

      Nov 5, 2020

      You’ve Got A Friend
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Guardian Angel Of Laughlin Drive

      Nov 1, 2022

      A longer version of this essay won a Ten Spurs Award from the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in 2021 and will be published in this year’s Ten Spurs Journal. The Texas Observer is helping sponsor the Mayborn’s writing contests this year. Joe l

      4 min read

    • Article

      Same But different

      Jun 17, 2021

      Same But different
      4 min read

    • Article

      Swallowed By The Ocean

      Apr 22, 2022

      Swallowed By The Ocean
      4 min read

    • Article

      Happy

      Jan 1, 2023

      Happy
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Gift Of Kindness

      Jun 7, 2023

      The Gift Of Kindness
      2 min read

    • Article

      Surprise!

      May 14, 2020

      Surprise!
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Animal Whisperer

      Oct 24, 2021

      AMANDA SAYS Elmo tells me all about his ailments, which are many, from being deaf and blind to having heart problems, but he still wants to fight on! While he shows me he’s totally blind, Elmo is still in relatively good shape, all things considered.

      1 min read

    • Article

      Broad Horizons

      Oct 10, 2019

      Broad Horizons
      3 min read

    • Article

      Message From Heaven

      Mar 5, 2020

      Message From Heaven
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Animal Whisperer

      Oct 24, 2021

      AMANDA SAYS Elmo tells me all about his ailments, which are many, from being deaf and blind to having heart problems, but he still wants to fight on! While he shows me he’s totally blind, Elmo is still in relatively good shape, all things considered.

      1 min read

    • Article

      This Is What Kids Really Think About Going Back To School After Lockdown

      Feb 23, 2021

      After months of on-off starts, and sizeable chunks of time out of the classroom, it won’t come as any surprise to hear that children have strong feelings about going back to school. Many are desperate to reconnect with their friends, and talk passio

      4 min read

    • Article

      I Know How Hard This Is

      May 8, 2020

      I Know How Hard This Is
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Rare Strength

      Jul 21, 2022

      A Rare Strength
      2 min read

    • Article

      Too Much, Too Young

      May 1, 2020

      Too Much, Too Young
      4 min read

    • Article

      Daniel’s World

      Jun 16, 2022

      Daniel’s World
      5 min read

    • Article

      My best friend VANISHED WALKING TO SCHOOL

      Jun 23, 2021

      Dyamai Hillard, 22, Melbourne, Vic Tucking into the spicy Thai food, my eyes watered. ‘It’s so hot!’ I said, downing a glass of water. My best friend, Bung, then 13, burst out laughing. ‘It’s not even that bad,’ she giggled. ‘You just can’t handle

      3 min read

    • Article

      Judge Jay-jay

      May 14, 2023

      Judge Jay-jay
      1 min read

    • Article

      From The Parents

      Sep 18, 2020

      Vuyokazi Balelo is from Langa in Cape Town. She and Comfort Malope have three children together: 10-year-old Asenathi; Mbalentle, a girl, who is 5; and Baby Mellow Kelebogile. Vuyokazi works as a security guard near Century City. In December, she gav

      4 min read

    Reviews for Black Box

    4/5

    80 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Fast read. Good for teens to read. I really liked it
    • 3/5
      A young adult novel that looks at how dealing with the clinical depression of a young girl affects the entire family, told through the eyes of a younger sister. Some very moving and "true-feeling" scenes, mixed in with some unrealistic (to me) wise-and-articulate dialogue makes for a generally thoughtful and sensitive portrait of what it feels like when you want to help someone and don't know how.
    • 4/5
      This was a fabulous quick read about a high schools girls struggle with depression and how an entire family can be effected. It was very well written and I was shocked to discover in the end that it was fiction. Very good young adult novel!
    • 4/5
      From the very first pages of this deeply emotional and engaging young adult novel, readers are plunged into the depths of adversity and drama. Elena’s seemingly ordinary life spirals down a steep slope of sadness, uncertainty, and instability when her older sister, Dora, is hospitalized for severe depression. With her family in a state of crisis and her social world collapsing in loneliness and isolation, Elena must shoulder the immense burden—at any cost—to restore normalcy and balance. Schumacher artfully embeds accurate depictions of depression throughout insightful descriptions of the bond of sisterhood, fragility of family life, and teenage tribulations. The short chapters of this relatively quick read (~160 pages)—ranging in length from a few pages to a single striking line—parallel Elena’s jarring environment and tug the reader along with a sense of gripping urgency.
    • 5/5
      I sometimes keep a book at school on my desk and read it during Silent Sustained Reading during the school day. Sometimes, the book will go home with me and other times it will languish on my desk for a while until I finally finish it. This book is of the latter category; I've had it on my desk for a couple of weeks and have read it every day.The fact that I have not taken this book home to finish is not a commentary on how well I appreciated or enjoyed this book. It's almost like the structure of the book, which is almost like a series of short vignettes than actual chapters, allowed me to read ten or fifteen pages and then set it down for a later reading. It had a bit of a meditative affect on me--I couldn't stop thinking about the characters in it once I got into the book, but didn't want to rush them through the story. I am a fast reader, but sometimes like to slow down the process for a book that requires a more thoughtful reading. This book, for me, is one such read.Black Box is the story of a girl named Elena and her experiences over the course of a few short weeks. The book opens with her beloved older sister, Dora, having survived a suicide attempt. Dora is in treatment for her depression, but Elena is feeling lots of guilt and anger about the situation. Her parents are not absent or abusive, but they are a little lost in exactly what they should do to help their daughters. And, both daughters do need help.Elena turns to a boy she just met, Jimmy, for help. He wears a lot of black and is generally known as a bit of an outcast, but seems to understand what Elena and Dora might be going through. Jimmy tells Elena that his brother tried to commit suicide and has had treatment. Jimmy and Elena forge a tight friendship and a tiny little romance--though this is not at all the focus of the novel.I decided to finish this book today after having listened to a podcast of This American Life last night while doing dishes. One segment in that podcast dealt with a man who had recorded interviews with a friend who had attempted suicide and who still planned to kill himself even after being rescued by emergency workers. This story troubled me deeply; I have know a few people who have committed suicide and I know the pain and devastation that a suicide (attempted or successful) leaves.At the end of this story, the author includes a little afterward, where she says that a friend told her not to publish this book because of the subject matter. While I understand that it is hard to imagine any teen wanting to commit suicide, I know that it happens. I think, as the author points out, that depression can leave those experiencing it and those around a depressed person with feelings of loneliness and absolute desolation. Books can help to bridge that void. Characters can speak to the reader when a relative or a counselor or a friend might fail.This book may not be for every reader, but I am happy to have it on my classroom shelves. I know that it will be of some comfort to a handful of my students who are dealing with their own issues of depression or who are trying to deal with the depression experienced by people they love and care about.
    • 3/5
      A young adult novel that looks at how dealing with the clinical depression of a young girl affects the entire family, told through the eyes of a younger sister. Some very moving and "true-feeling" scenes, mixed in with some unrealistic (to me) wise-and-articulate dialogue makes for a generally thoughtful and sensitive portrait of what it feels like when you want to help someone and don't know how.
    • 4/5
      Elena and her sister, Dora, are opposites yet very close, until Dora begins to vanish into deep, psychotic depression. She spends time in a pyschiatric ward that is so bad, she asks Elena to save her. Elena is left to figure out how she can rescue her sister without betraying her confidence. Schumacker creates vivid characters by sharing little moments of intimacy that tell the reader so much about who they are. This is a great story about how depressin impacts a family, and how Elena untangles her own identity from her sister's.
    • 5/5
      This beautifully written novel explores the effects of having a sibling who suffers from depression. Told from the perspective of the younger sister, this book examines what it's like to have to be the "good" child, to worship someone imperfect, and to have to learn to do the thing that is right. It moved me to tears.
    • 4/5
      I will start off this review with one word "WOW". The story of Dora and Elena two sisters who are as close as can be - when the older Dora starts changing - she is sleeping too much, no longer eating and is becoming less and less like herself every day. Eventually, she is diagnosed with a mental illness. This is the story of how mental illness (depression) affects absolutely everyone it touches. Elena finds herself having to deal with the fact that her beloved sister is no longer the person she use to be. Elena is heartbroken and scared. Her parents are arguing all the time and somehow most of their friends are now staying away - far away. It is almost impossible for Elena to deal with it all - as she finds herself going to extremes in order to make everyone "be okay again". This novel (its very, very short at a little under 180 pages) is extremely touching and sad, which is to say that the author takes a very honest and real view at an illness that for some reason still appears to be taboo. I love the title of this book - indeed mental depression certainly makes everyone feel as though they are living in a box - I highly recommend this book to anyone who believes it will never happen to them.