A Guide

      When someone hears, "young adult literature" they probably think of teen romance aand issues in young adults life. Well, forget that kind of literature and move on to "young adult zombie literature." In Banished, Sophie Littlefield creates a world of Healers and zombies. 16 year old Hailey is a healer, a teen with the power to heal anyone but she finds out about her powers after she meets her aunt Prairie for the first time. Before, Hailey's life was a mess that she was trying so hard to fix. Her grandmother is a drug- dealer who only adopted Chub, Hailey's brother, for the money Chub should get for being only a baby boy. After Prairie arrives, Hailey faces traumatic changes in her life and her whole world turns upside down. She learns about her mother who she thought died giving birth to her but who actually commited suicide at age 14. Hailey gets caught in a race to stop an evil man who wants Hailey to work with him to create zombies by healing the dead. All this is too much to bear in a matter of 6 days even for teens but when a teenager has someone to guide them they can acomplish anything even the impossible.
     Before Prairie came to Haileys life, Hailey was unable to do anyhting. She couldn't support Chub and her dog, Rascal and she couldn't escape Gypsum, Missouri which was her dream. She had many problems living in a house with her grandmother but the biggest was that her grandmother had friends who misbehaved with her. Even though her grandmother was there to see everything she didn't say anything. When Prairie showed up, for the first time Hailey felt like she can trust soemone. She felt like there is someone in her world who can show her the truth after living a life full of lies created by her grandmother. This is what everyone wants, not just teens. People don't like to live a life of lies they want to know the truth, th truth about who they are.
     Through what Hailey is feeling, Sophie Littlefield is trying to say that teenagers need mentors in life. They need someone who could give them advice, show them the right path when they feel lost and comfort them when they can't face all the obstacles that life throws at them. Littlefield is trying to tell the reader that guides are necessary in one's life, it is difficult for someone to accomplish something without the help of someone that someone can trust. The whole book is about how to reach ones goal when someone is there to support others. This shows that the author is trying o say that it's not a bad thing to ask for help once in a while.
      Teens should break their shells so someone can reach out to them and give them support they need. A lot of teens have a secret or something that they are struggling with and its important for them to to ask for help. It doesn't matter who but as long as someone is there to help, teens should go to them because oneday no one might be there for someone to ask for help for.