Book Review: Heroine

Several months ago, I compiled a list of Indiana authors I'd like to meet. When September promised a trip to Ohio, I made a list for Ohio authors, as well. I initially sought authors I was familiar with: Margaret Peterson Haddix, Celeste Ng, Sharon Draper (author of Out of My Mind, a MG novel recently made into a Disney movie), and Thrity Umrigar. But, I looked up a few who lived nearer to my Ohio destination to see if I might want to read a book and seek the author. This is how I stumbled upon Mindy McGinnis' book, Heroine. I sought it despite knowing it might hit too close to home.

Mickey Catalan is an athlete with an injured leg (hmm, familiar). Her doctor prescribes an opioid (hmm, familiar). Thus begins a descent into addiction (hmm, familiar). The story is heart-wrenching but full of truth. McGinnis paints the real deal: the deceptions, the thievery, the justifications, the tolerance build-up, and the dependence. Mickey comes to believe the drug is her only answer. She doesn't see herself as a junkie until the evidence is too plain to ignore.

I appreciated the trigger warning at the outset, very important. What a great idea to open each chapter with an addiction-related term. Mickey's struggle tears at the reader's heart. It is a slippery slope. I'm not sure why some go down it and others are unaffected. I took an opioid after some of my surgeries and never struggled. Unfortunately, my son (like Mickey) was not so lucky.

Sadly, Mindy McGinnis was heading off for a book tour during the dates I was in Ohio. She kindly offered to answer my questions via email anyway. I hope to highlight her author interview in a post early next year. Heroine is an important book for teens to read to increase awareness of the allure of addictive drugs. We need to be more careful in prescribing drugs that ease pain, but in the end bring no end of pain when the afflicted individual leans into addiction. I cannot say whether my son would have spiraled into drug addiction anyway, but I'm sure for many, it is the initial prescription for an athletic injury that leads to this path of bondage and despair.