Not My Problem

 Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth, 368 pages.

This young adult novel by the author of The Falling in Love Montage (which I wrote about here) follow Aideen, a high school student who has essentially no part of her own life figured out. She's failing most of her classes, her only friend is pulling away from her, and her mother is drinking again. But after she walks in on overachiever and rival Meabh having a meltdown over her untenable schedule, and is talked into helping her escape it by pushing her down the stairs so she sprains her ankle, suddenly she's at the head of a "social enterprise" that is helping her fellow students to solve their problems. Which is great so long as she doesn't have to think to much about her own.

Much like The Falling in Love Montage this book resonates with me for reasons I can't entirely understand, beyond the fact that I loved reading it. Aideen is deeply sympathetic, and even though there are actions she could take to improve her situation none of them are so extreme that not doing them feels like a plot hole. Rather it feels like Aideen is doing the best she can with what she has, and I feel for her. Beyond Aideen, I really liked many of the other characters in this book (especially Kavi, who is central and who I adore) and it was very wholesome to see all of these kids come together to help each other for the sake of helping. Ultimately, I would say that this is a book that is very focused on the myriad of ways a life can be falling apart, but also on the equally numerous ways that we can all help each other. It was a very emotionally soft read, and I really enjoyed it.