YA Fiction Annotation

Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon

 

Title: You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone

 

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

 

Publication Date: 2018

 

Number of Pages: 354

 

Geographical Setting: Seattle, Washington 

 

Time Period: Modern-day

 

Series (If Applicable): Not applicable

 

Plot Summary:

 

Fraternal twins Tovah and Adina, born to an Israeli mom and an American dad in Seattle, Washington, are opposites in almost every. Studious, logical, and outwardly insecure, Tovah desires a career in the medical field. Her sister, Adina, who displays outward confidence while inwardly, is just as insecure as Tovah is, loves music, and wants to go to a conservatory to study the viola, an instrument she has played since she was a young girl. However, their mother's declining health due to Huntington’s disease, a condition the twins have a high chance of inheriting, threatens to curtail their desires, as does the fact that Tovah convinces Adina to get tested against her wishes, and when they get their results, only one twin gets a positive result. The outcome of the test result causes the deep-seated, long-held hurt and resentment that was already beginning to bubble up to overflow, furthering the rift between the twins. This book is quite nuanced, with subjects ranging from religion (Judaism) to mental and physical health and body image to female friendship, sexuality, romantic relationships, family secrets, and complicated sibling and parent-child relationships.

 

Subject Headings: 

 

Sisters—Fiction

Twins—Fiction

Huntington’s Disease—Fiction

Sick—Fiction

Jews—United States—Fiction

Families—Washington (State)—Seattle—Fiction

Seattle (Wash.)—Fiction 

 

Appeals:

 

Characterization: 

 

Each of the characters in this book, both the main and supporting ones, have their own personality, and Tovah and Adina are good examples of dynamic characters. At some moments, the reader feels a strong empathy toward Tovah and Adina, while at other times, their words and behaviors are difficult to have compassion for or understand. Early in the novel, the sisters make it clear, in alternating first-person chapters, bolstered by their conversations and interactions with each other, that not only are they opposites in personality, appearance, interests, and beliefs, but also, their relationship is almost nonexistent. Adina describes herself as lonely, explaining that “[w]hile Tovah has a whole group of close friends, [she] only ha[s] [her] mother to confide in” (Solomon, 2018, p. 33). Adina also keeps many secrets from her family, from the fact that she does not “keep kosher when [she is] not at home” (Solomon, 2018, p. 53) to her infatuation and eventual relationship with her music teacher who, later, reflecting upon how she once felt about him, admits, “I thought I could force him to love me” (Solomon, 2018, p. 337). Unlike her twin, Tovah fears intimacy in all forms; Tovah fears rejection and is insecure in her body. After she says no to going on a date with her friend, Zack, shortly before she and Adina get tested for Huntington’s disease, she thinks to herself, “[w]hat’s the best possible outcome here—we have a spectacular first date, and then he has to comfort me if/when my life falls apart at the end of the month?” (Solomon, 2018, p. 49). The only attributes that the twins have in common are their self-centeredness and their seeming inability to communicate honestly with each other. After Tovah and Adina get their test results for Huntington’s back, their already-fragile relationship continues crumbling. While Tovah is upset that “[e]very good thing that happens to [her] from now until the end of [her] life will be tainted by Adina” (Solomon, 2018, p. 142), Adina allows anger to consume her, deciding that “[i]nstead of letting [her] sister back in, [she] will cut her out and make her suffer, steal as much of her happiness for [herself] as [she] can” (Solomon, 2018, p. 201-202). 

 

Story line: 

 

The storyline of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone focuses on several overlapping journeys: Adina and Tovah’s journeys toward accepting their mom’s declining health and their own Huntington’s test results, self-autonomy, and self-compassion, figuring out their identities, what they want, and who they want to be, compared to what the world wants them to be. Near the end of the novel, Tovah learns to accept ambiguity, stating, “[f]or the first time in my life, I tumble headfirst into uncertainty ( . . . ) I kind of love it" (Solomon, 2018, p. 346). Adina also finds more peace at the end of the novel, learning to put up boundaries in her relationships and embracing a more internal sense of confidence, deciding that “[she] [is] always going to wear [her] dresses and red lipstick because [she] like[s] them. [She] [is] always going to have people watch [her] when [she] [is] onstage, but [her] looks are not the only things that make [her] Adina” (Solomon, 2018, p. 337).

 

Tone:

 

I would characterize the overall tone of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone as harsh. Although Tovah and Adina do not speak about themselves kindly, how they talk about and to each other is often cruel. Near the beginning of the book, as the twins prepare for their eighteenth birthday and the genetic test for Huntington’s, Adina confesses to Tovah that she is afraid and does not want to take the test. Tovah, who still holds a grudge against Adina for past transgressions, warns her sister, “[b]ut if you don’t take the test, Adina, you are dead to me” (Solomon, 2018, p. 70). Later, during a fight, Adina tells Tovah, “[y]ou’ve been an awful sister to me these past couple years, and I hate you” (Solomon, 2018, p. 303). These comments are just two examples of the harsh tone enveloping the novel. 

 

3 Terms that Best Describe This Book:

 

1) Heartbreaking 

2) Evocative

3) Empathetic

 

3 Relevant Non-fiction Works and Authors:

 

1) The Woman Who Walked into the Sea: Huntington’s and the Making of a Genetic Disease by Alice Wexler

 

According to the book summary, “Wexler uses Huntington’s as a lens to explore the changing meanings of heredity, disability, stigma, and medical knowledge among ordinary people as well as scientists and physicians. She addresses these themes through three overlapping stories: the lives of a nineteenth-century family once said to “belong to the disease”; the emergence of Huntington’s chorea as a clinical entity; and the early twentieth-century transformation of this disorder into a cautionary eugenics tale” (Indianapolis Public Library. (n.d.-c). Although You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone describes Tovah and Adina’s mother, Ima’s symptoms—mood swings, short-term memory loss, auditory hallucinations, mobility issues—and other facts, such as general disease progression and common treatments to manage symptoms, the novel does not focus explicitly on Huntington’s disease—it is a story of a family and identity shaped, but not defined by terminal illness. Wexler’s book might appeal to readers who want a more detailed understanding of or who find the history of Huntington’s disease, particularly from a medical perspective, interesting. 

 

2) Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History (Revised Edition) by Joseph Telushkin

 

In this updated historical work, Rabbi Telushkin covers many aspects of Judaism, both in the past and present. According to the book summary, Teleushkin’s book is “[w]idely recognized as one of the most respected and indispensable reference books on Jewish life, culture, tradition, and religion” (Indianapolis Public Library. (n.d.-b). I chose this book because although Judaism is not the central theme of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone, it is significant to the relationship between Tovah and Adina, with Tovah relying upon her faith to cope with her mother’s diagnosis and Adina resenting the religion she grew up with for the same reason. Furthermore, Solomon’s book briefly discusses different spectrums of beliefs within Judaism, which Telushkin’s work might help to explain or expand upon for better comprehension. 

 

3) Can You Help Me?: Inside the Turbulent World of Huntington Disease by Thomas D. Bird, MD

 

Thomas D. Bird, according to the book summary, “is a neurogeneticist who works with individuals with Huntington’s disease and their families” (Indianapolis Public Library. (n.d.-a). As a medical professional with firsthand experience treating symptoms of Huntington's, Dr. Bird is an authority in the field. Therefore, he is a reliable source readers can feel comfortable learning from and trusting that the information they receive is valid. Furthermore, the summary suggests that readers receive a variety of different stories about individuals with Huntington’s disease, which corresponds to the statement Adina, in You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone, makes about this disease, that everyone “get[s] [their] own special version of Huntington’s (Solomon, 2018, p. 129). Adina and Tovah’s mom is one fictionalized account of an individual with Huntington’s disease, but many other stories of individuals with different symptoms, disease progressions, ways of coping, and so forth also exist, which Bird’s text highlights.

 

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

 

1) Rules for 50/50 Chances: A Novel by Kate McGovern

 

From the book summary, the protagonist in McGovern’s novel, Rose, inhabits characteristics of both Tovah and Adina aside from the risk of inheriting Huntington’s disease from her mother. Additional traits the twins and Rose share are doubtful about entering a relationship, like Tovah, or pursuing a career in the arts, like Adina, with the knowledge that they or their loved one will or could develop Huntington’s disease in later adulthood. All these are issues Rose, Tovah, and Adina must reconcile within their respective novels. 

 

2) Like Water by Rebecca Podos

 

Savannah, the protagonist in Rebecca Podos’ Like Water, also has a parent with Huntington’s who she helps to support through various means. Like Adina, Savannah copes with her feelings about her father’s diagnosis through sexual relationships with older men. Additionally, the summary of this book suggests that Savannah, like Tovah and Adina, all learn, in their respective novels, how to set boundaries for themselves, particularly as it relates to determining what they want from life, from their relationships, and figuring out the many facets of their identities. 

 

3) Fade Into the Bright by Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz

 

The impetus for the main plotline(s) of thing book is the same as the motivation for the events in You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone: two sisters get tested for Huntington’s because of a parent’s diagnosis, but only one receives a positive result. Additional similarities include how Abby, in this novel, and Tovah, in You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone are both ambitious in their high school careers, fear rejection, and slowly become more confident in stepping into their identities and starting romantic relationships. Reading about Abby as a character and how similar she is to Tovah, I would argue that Abby and Tovah act as mirrors of one another.

 

References:

Bird, T.D. (2019). Can you help me?: Inside the turbulent world of Huntington disease. Oxford University Press.

Etting, J.K. & Schwartz, A.E. (2021). Fade into the bright. Delacorte Press.

Indianapolis Public Library. (n.d.-a). Can you help me?: Inside the turbulent world of Huntington disease. https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S165C1014501

Indianapolis Public Library. (n.d.-b). Jewish literacy: The most important things to know about the Jewish religion, its people, and its history. https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S165C658012

Indianapolis Public Library. (n.d.-c). The woman who walked into the sea: Huntington’s and the making of a genetic disease. https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S165C559025

McGovern, K. (2015). Rules for 50/50 chances: A novel. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Podos, R. (2017). Like water. Balzer + Bray.

Solomon, R.L. (2018). You’ll miss me when I’m gone. Simon Pulse.

Telushkin, J. (2008). Jewish literacy: The most important things to know about the Jewish religion, its people, and its history. William Morrow.

Wexler, A. (2008). The woman who walked into the sea: Huntington’s and the making of a genetic disease. Yale University Press.