Readers and writers: Selections for Mental Health Awareness Month

In the middle of Mental Wellbeing Awareness Month we re offering stories about forgotten people on the margins a memoir about how trees soothe and calm us and two helpful books for those living with mentally challenged loved ones Courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press Lucky On the morrow by Deborah Jiang-Stein University of Minnesota Press Another thing I dream of ears Last time I was in the psych wing of the jail I listened less than ever before Thought my dreams would stop that way the sounds and visions Sometimes I think I m over the edge with these visions Other times pretty sure I m an intuitive antenna a direct conduit from the universe It chimes secrets of wisdom into me and pumps truth through me from Lucky The next day This riveting collection of tender heartbreaking interconnected short stories the publisher calls them vignettes begins with evocations of flowers in the life of flower vendor Felma who had a baby taken from her when she was locked up in Seattle Felma loves flowers wants to be them If I leave the pollen on me long enough I figure it ll soak into my pores and hair follicles and then I ll start growing tiny little buds and blossoms of pansies Her flower cart sign says For a Lucky The coming day Buy a Flower Currently Later we learn Felma s little business lasted only a sparse months Is she Esther locked in the prison s death row psych ward Thoughts of her daughter taken away right after her birth are consistently part of Esther s semi-coherent thoughts even though she s been in prison for decades The writing in Esther s stories is chilling as for instance we witness the feces-smearing woman across the hall being led to the death chamber Other characters include outcasts visionaries and eccentrics all of whom live on the margins as unseen a former priest a girl trapped in working her family s candy stand a woman who learned preaching from her brother and is a caretaker for her dying housemate The settings move from Seattle to Tokyo to Minneapolis It isn t a spoiler to reveal this collection ends with hope as Esther s daughter is given boxes of small cafeteria paper napkins covered with her mother s drawings of flowers Jiang-Stein born in an Appalachian prison is author of the memoir Prison Baby She s a writer populace speaker collaborator and founder of the unPrison Project working with and mentoring people in prisons to build life skills Her sympathy for the unseen forgotten and mentally unwell permeates this collection Jiang-Stein will launch her book at p m Thursday May at Children s Theater Company Third Ave S Mpls in conversation with Sha Cage artist writer and director Free advance registration required at z umn edu She will also be in conversation with author guide and writer s advocate Carolyn Holbrook at p m June at Moon Palace Books Minnehaha Ave Mpls Courtesy of Holy Cow Press Tree Trek A Daughter s Walk Through Grief by Stephanie Mirocha Holy Cow Press As I finished traversing the pedestrian bridge that day on my way back instead of looking straight ahead at the Lily Pond as I usually did for particular reason my head turned to the left and my gaze fell directly on an Ohio buckeye tree On its trunk was one of my dad s tree ID signs shining starkly as if looking at me drawing my attention to it like an arrow It was the first time I had ever noticed one of his tree signs I d heard about from vague references slipped into conversations from Tree Trek Science biology ruminations on nature and family memories intertwine in this debut from a woman who inherited her love of trees It is a pleasure to read This book is the story of losing my father the pillar of my life and of trees the silent partners who stood with me along the way she writes Each chapter title names a tree from Basswood and Spruce to Ginkgo and Hackberry as well as the author s personal connection Mirocha who lives in Aitkin grew up climbing trees and riding her bike in Como Park where she learned about trees from her dad Chet Mirocha a University of Minnesota professor of plant pathology In Chet Mirocha began leading treks through the Como Park trees and later started attaching ID tags to them After her dad s death in Stephanie continued his work leading educational Tree Treks in the park and tagging trees There are plenty of nature books about the importance of animals insects and flowers but too often we take trees for granted Trees have much to share with us beyond shade oxygen wood products food and their beauty Mirocha writes Living alongside us as we grow and age sometimes for our entire lifetimes they calmly and quietly connect us to those who came before us and to those who will come after we are gone Trees are constantly available to hold our memories joys sorrows and major life events in their strong branches while we attempt to explain ourselves Mirocha illustrated four picture books connecting children to nature including Frog in the House and My Little Book of Bald Eagles both award-winners She earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Minnesota and is a Minnesota Master Naturalist A book launch will be hosted by Mirocha at p m Thursday at Northland Arboretum in Brainerd and she will sign books May at Zenith Bookstore in Duluth In St Paul she will sign from to p m June at Garden Safari Gifs Estabrook Drive Como Park and p m June at Next Chapter Booksellers S Snelling Ave Loving Someone with a Mental Illness or History of Trauma Johns Hopkins University Press and I m Not Alone Seeds of Hope Books by Michelle D Sherman and De Anne Sherman Michelle Sherman is a Roseville-based psychologist and her mother De Anne is an educator advocate in Woodbury Their book Loving Someone subtitled Skills Hope and Strength for Your Journey is an interactive paperback that offers space for the reader s thoughts and experiences Sections include Reflecting on Your Experience Supporting Your Loved One Strengthening Your Relationship With Your Loved One and managing common challenges They address the emotional journey coping tools empowerment communication limit setting addictive behaviors and manageable impacts of trauma Written in clear language this workbook is for individuals or helping groups I m Not Alone is an interactive teen guide to living with parents who have a mental illness or history of trauma This is an updated and expanded second edition Young readers should be hopeful as they delve into the book because on the first page it promises You are not alone emphasizing that confusion worry fear and anger are common feelings when living with an impaired parent The young reader will learn about causes signs and therapy of mental illness post-traumatic stress disorder as well as the possibility of recovery healthy coping skills tools for talking with your friends how to identify people who can promotion you strategies to strengthen your relationship with your parent and how to strengthen the reader s own mental physical condition Related 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