Denial

Written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Lorimer

978-1-4594-1671-0

176 pp.

Ages 14-18

RL 2.7

February 2022

 

When September started, seventeen-year-old Nova's senior year was looking pretty good. She was excelling at her school work and already had early acceptance to U of T for science, as a precursor to med school. She was part of their high school's power couple, having dated star swimmer Leo for the past 5 months. She had a regular gig tutoring students and she was on the swim team too. But Denial begins the following May with Nova covered in blood and worried about what she'd done. Evidently, life wasn't as perfect as Nova had thought.

Though he's not pressuring her to have sex, Leo makes it clear that's what he's interested in. Fortunately, Nova wants her first time to be perfect and to ensure she gets on the pill first, having heeded her mother's own experiences with a teen pregnancy that resulted in Nova's half-brother Brad, currently living in Thailand after dropping out of university. But, while she's anxious and excited at the prospect of losing her virginity to the guy she loves, Nova is also considering it in the context of quitting the swim team–she's probably the weakest on it–and of leaving Leo exposed to the machinations of the star female swimmer, Jada, who seems to be trying to drive a wedge between Nova and Leo.

But that perfect senior year with the love of her life slowly seems to become something else. Battling tension within the family, between her parents who've had to restructure their lives after Dad lost his job and between her parents and Brad after he ditched university, and with her jealousy of Jada and Leo's increasing unavailability as he tries out for the national team, Nova is finding it hard to cope. And, with Lorna Schultz Nicholson peppering the chapters that document the school year with the glimpses into the May fiasco that may result in a death, Denial becomes a heavy but relatable story of first loves and school stresses with a touch of family drama.

Being in denial is an easy attitude. It's sticking with the status quo, the familiar, even if the familiar is unhealthy, suspicious, or jeopardous. And there's a lot of denial in Denial. (Duh.) But, as easy as denial can be, it is also a powerful force. It makes you see things you don't and ignore things that are evident to everyone. So when you're a teen and don't have decades of life experience to inform you, denial is really easy and Lorna Schultz Nicholson gets that. While she is well-known for her stories rich in sports (e.g., rowing in When You Least Expect It and hockey in Taking the Ice), it's her finesse in addressing issues important to teens that has always impressed me. Whether it's trauma or disabilities, peer pressure or teen sex, Lorna Schultz Nicholson knows how to write about the angst of being a teen and balancing friends, family, school and love. She allows teens to be human and make mistakes, even huge mistakes based in denial, but also to recover from them and move forward. And when you're a teen and everything is monumental and seems life-ending, Lorna Schultz Nicholson gives you hope that life-changing is the norm and can be transformative rather than ruinous.