Push
Scholastic Inc.

February 2002

$6.99 US

123p pb

ISBN: 978-0439297714

You Remind Me Of You: a poetry memoir

Eireann Corrigan

from the book...

There is love. There is harm. There is recovery.

For three years, Eireann Corrigan was in and out of treatment facilities for her eating disorders. By the time she graduated high school, her doctors said she was going to die if things didn't change. That July, her high school boyfriend attempted suicide. In one gunshot moment, everything was altered.

In a striking and honest voice, Eireann Corrigan recounts these events, finding meaning in the hurt, humor in the horror, and grace in the struggle that life demands. You Remind Me Of You is a testament to the binding ties of love and pain, and the strange paths we take to recovery.

If you have read this verse novel and would like to share your opinion of it with other readers please send your review or comments to YARR-A

I've read You Remind Me of You, and I think it's so incredibly moving.  I am reading a few of the pieces from it for forensics and I never get tired of reading them, and never lose the emotion.  In fact these pieces are bringing me to state in forensics. I just think anyone who hears or reads You Remind Me of You will be deeply moved or touched.  It's a powerful piece for sure!

You Remind Me of You is about the life of Eireen featuring depression, eating disorders, and love. Eireann suffered from eating disorders, bad enough to be hospitalized; while Daniel, her boyfriend, attempted suicide brought on by the combination of mania, depression, and LSD. Through the years of their relationship, they are friends and lovers.

Eireann had experienced many problems, all starting with self-hatred. Her boyfriend’s suicide attempt goes wrong and she is needed to bring him back to full recovery. In this smart, and heart-rending poetry memoir, author Eireann Corrigan takes a breathtakingly honest look at herself as she makes her way through profoundly difficult times. We are invited through Eireann’s mind to try with her to understand the puzzling chain of events and emotions. Some poems are her thoughts, some are details of a particular day or interaction, and others are the dialogue between her and an unnamed therapist.

You Remind Me of You by Eireann Corrigan is an incredibly moving poetry memoir. The free-verse poems last from one to three pages, and are filled with swirls of emotion and pain. It is written in first person so Eireann, the "I," addresses Daniel, the "you." This book has been written in such a powerful way that you are swept away into her world and her life. As you read through Eireann’s profoundly difficult times, you learn about the ways and different paths she takes to recovery. Overall this was a captivating book to read. Learning about other people’s real life experiences and their way of life then comparing it to your own is really interesting and shows how dramatically different one person’s life can be to another.

Suhani, Year 10, Canberra, Australia

This book gives a view of various kinds of suffering. Eireann inflicts suffering upon herself and people close to her because of her obsessive attitude towards losing weight. When her first boyfriend shoots himself, she suffers in a new way. She worries for him instead of herself; she is scared for his life. Then her second boyfriend dies in a car crash, but the pain is of a different kind this time. She does not grieve for Ben’s death as she would for David’s.

This book is rather depressing at times and tragic throughout. More likely not a good read for the easily upset, but still a terrific book. I would give this autobiographical novel 3/5. Perhaps best for ages 14 (at least) and up, this book is a definite heart-breaker.

You Remind Me of You is a true story based on the life of Eireann Corrigan while she battled eating disorders. To make matters worse, her boyfriend, who she is deeply in love with, attempts suicide and not only does she have to deal with her own problems, now she has to deal with his.

Even though this true story is depressing, it is a great read and an eye opener into the world of people with eating disorders. While reading this book I was the girl with the eating disorder, feeling her pain, hunger, depression and even feeling like all hope of life was gone. Seeing as this book is depressing and opens the mind to such strong issues, I would recommend it to those aged of fourteen and above, because to enjoy the book, you must know a few things about things such as eating disorders.

I really enjoyed reading this book; I was so impressed with poems and their depth. Eireann Corrigan has told her story using free-verse poems which I found to be very easy to read and I found the way she wrote them very moving; I would pause and just think for a while before reading the next line because each line had an effect over me. I love this book and will remember it for the rest of my life.

Sonja, Year 9, Canberra, Australia

You Remind Me Of You is the memoirs of Eireann Corrigan written in the form of a verse novel. This story is about Eireann as a teenager struggling not only with life but with an eating disorder. Eireann starts out having small phobias such as becoming fat to having full-blown anorexia and this all happens within the first few sections.

Daniel, her newly found boyfriend, is also dealing with similar problems; this is because he is on the high school wrestling team. Having this in common allows them to be closer and compels them to depend on each other more than usual. One day after she’s in a school play she gets admitted into hospital for the first time. She meets new people who have the same or similar conditions as her but they all have their own stories. Even though their friendships were based on their connection with eating disorders they all seemed to understand each other more and with this they get to know each other and become closer.

While she was in hospital all she could think of was when the next time she would be able to crouch over the toilet and push her fingers down her throat. When she finally makes an acceptable weight she is released. That night, after her dinner, she goes straight to her bathroom. She relapses and gets sent back to hospital, although the next time she is released she doesn’t turn to her old ways and instead decides to make a future for herself. She goes off to college and in doing this she leaves Daniel behind to cope with the world on his own. While she’s off in another state she meets a boy called Ben. Then one night she and Ben decide to go out to the movies, as they check the movie times in the newspaper, she glances at the headline on the front page. When she finally takes a closer look she sees Daniels name and address. He tried to commit suicide, but failed. From then on she feels as if her life is going down hill. 

Eireann tells her story as if it’s her own private diary. She pours out every detail of what she was thinking, feeling and experiencing. I found myself really interested in what happens when she was in hospital. I think this was because it was fascinating to find out the many ways she and the other patients they avoided eating food. An example would be the character, Laura, putting her egg noodles into her boot or the whole group smearing their butter on the bottoms of their seats.

I thought that it would have been better if Eireann could have told us more on how the issues had ended with the things that she felt weighted down by, but as this is a true story she may not have been able to include these factors because there may not have been any closure. I was also confused about what sort of eating disorder she had, most of the signs seemed to point toward just anorexia but the fact that she was making herself throw up could indicate that she was suffering from bulimia as well.

I thought this book was well written but her choice of words sometimes made sentences confusing. This book is very thought provoking so if you haven’t read any books that are in the same or similar genre to this, it could be a bit challenging to read.

Josie, Year 10, Canberra, Australia

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