The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno (review)

For about a year, Molly has had occasions where she finds herself in her car or in class unable to remember the past several hours or how she came to be there. When she witnesses a boy getting hit by a truck and goes to help him, she is mystified to find that he seems to know her while she has no idea who he is. When the boy dies in the hospital and she contacts his brother, she begins having memories of both boys. Through memory flashes and common sense, she begins to realize that something is very wrong with her, and that everyone but her seems to know about it. As it turns out, she suffers from dissociative identity disorder and her alter, Mabel, is beginning the process of letting go by allowing Molly access to memories that only Mabel knows. This is less a clinically based than dramatically created portrait of DID; additionally, Mabel’s similarity to Molly makes her less interesting, and her agency in integrating Molly doesn’t jibe will with her focus on her own survival. This is therefore a less satisfying book about DID than Coley’s Pretty Girl—13 (BCCB 4/13); however, the idea of having a secret life, especially one that involves a secret boyfriend, will hold appeal for readers with only a passing interest in rare mental conditions, and the mystery is a well-paced puzzle for readers as well as for Molly herself.