Author

Emily Davis

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

English Language and Literatures

Sub-Department

Creative Writing

First Advisor

Elise Blackwell

Abstract

Ivy Dreams On is a realistic young adult novel which explores the effects of grief and trauma on adolescents through humor and non-traditional narrative. This book will appeal to readers of young and new adult, written in the spirit of Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak).

There was no mystery to Ivy’s death: G’s sister was drunk, G’s sister was high, G’s sister fell off a cliff. But when D, an ex-friend and longtime target of G’s torment, insists that there’s more to Ivy’s death, G is reluctantly moved into action. After all, D was the one to find the body and there is no way that G trusts the local sheriff, his father. Meanwhile, G’s mood is somewhat improved by the fact that his parents’ marriage is finally falling apart. However, the barely repressed hope that his mother will take him away when she leaves his father is shattered when she leaves by herself, and his father is set on winning full custody of his remaining child. G has no idea why his father even wants custody considering his fixation on his job and lack of patience for G’s…everything. G must come to grips with the grief that has fractured his reality, the flawed humanity of the adults surrounding him, and figure out how to come to terms with the traumatic events and circumstances of his life.

Rights

© 2020, Emily Davis

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