GOING UNDER by Kathe Koja
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  9/5/06
    Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux
    Reviewed by:  Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
    Rating:  4 Stars


    GOING UNDER by Kathe Koja explores the psychological angles of a faltering brother/sister relationship. Hilly and
    Ivan have always been close. Raised by what Hilly calls “semi-useless” parents, both brother and sister would probably
    argue they raised themselves.

    Hilly is sent to a therapist to help her work her way through the emotional aftermath of a friend’s suicide. The first
    therapist is unsuccessful in reaching Hilly, so her older brother helps to find a new doctor. But does the new doctor
    have Hilly’s best interests in mind--or his own?

    Kathe Koja uses the myths of Peresephone and Narcissus to illustrate the siblings relationship. Hilly’s brother Ivan tells
    his parents and his sister he is attempting to save Hilly from being dragged into the darkness. At the same time Ivan’s
    own warped self-image causes him to become entangled with the therapist’s scheme to use Hilly’s journal writings as
    material for his own book.

    Readers with a knowledge of the ancient myths will be treated to an interesting twist on the meanings of the old tales.
    Koja’s book would work well and provide fuel for discussion in a high school lit class focusing on different
    interpretations of these classical stories.
Going Under
by Kathe Koja