“Spiral” has more meanings than one for sixteen-year-old Madz Monroe, who quits skating only to be faced with a medical apocalypse. Scared of sharing her diagnosis, she hides herself and her illness from others, including her parents’ landscaper, her crush. The experience opens her eyes to a world of suffering while helping her discover the brighter side of life.
It’s Personal
Writing The Beauty of a Spiral was deeply personal. As a teenager, I had the same type of serious illness as Madz; therefore, I can relate to some of her reactions and insights. Also, I figure-skated (on a much lower level than Madz) as an adolescent and adult, and for years I was a “skating mom.” While fiction can imitate reality, Madz’s experience is her own unique one, just as mine was.
Themes
Being human, we can’t escape crises as we whirl around in life. However, if we open our eyes, we might find hidden gems shining among the “weeds”of this world. Such gems often come in the form of unsung heroes.
“Weeds” are highly symbolic in The Beauty of a Spiral, whose themes include:
- coming of age
- family
- friends/friendship
- life
- death
- healing
- nature
- love/teen romance
- adversity
- medical
- human diversity (autism/unique personalities and approaches to life)
- kindness
- money
- adoption
- fear
- misperceptions/communication
- empowerment
- work ethic
- figure skating
- look for more as you read!
Conclusion
The Beauty of a Spiral is a contemporary young-adult novel enriched with introspections, literary devices, and engaging primary and secondary characters. In a world full of people suffering in the pits of life, Madz is forced to navigate her own spiral into the abyss. To survive, she must fight through an illness and its treatment. To heal, she’ll have to figure out who she is beyond the rink, which might bring her back to it.
Please see The Beauty of a Spiral page for a glimpse at the cover and blurb.