Bent Not Broken: Madeline & Justin

Schultz Nicholson, Lorna. Bent Not Broken: Madeline & Justin. Part of the One 2 One series. 2017. 218p. ISBN 9781988347035. Available at FIC SCH on the library shelves.

When they were eight, identical twins Becky and Madeline went on a bike ride. Even though they were wearing both wearing helmets at the time, Madeline fell on her head. She doesn’t remember any of the accident. For her, it’s the before and after. Having suffered a traumatic brain injury, Madeline has spent the last seven years of her life slowly regaining abilities she once took for granted. Walking can be difficult, and she often has to remind herself to put one foot in front of the other. She often loses her cool when the pressure builds inside her head and she will slam her head with her hands. Her speech pattern is slurred and slow. She’s not dumb. She knows exactly what she wants to say, but her brain can’t communicate it fast enough to her mouth. What hurts the most, though, is that she and Becky have drifted apart. They did everything together, dressed the same, talked the same, but now Madeline can only follow Becky, and sometimes not even then. Her parents are divorced, and Becky has new friends who smoke and drink.

Part of a Best Buddies at school, Madeline spends time with Justin, a senior who’s helping her with activities and social skills. They play cards, participate in gym activities with the other differently abled students at school, and sometimes share feelings. For Justin has also suffered a loss when his younger sister Faith, an autistic child who starved herself to death following a bout with anorexia and bullying at school. Justin and his parents have never quite recovered from her death a year ago.

Madeline spends a lot of time every week with therapy horses, especially Willow, a miniature horse. Madeline takes care of Willow and help the other kids attending the stable therapy programs. Willow does not judge, and moreover she loves the attention. When she invites Justin to come with her to the therapy stable, Justin thinks it’s too soon. His sister used to attend a similar program. But being Best Buddies president, he agrees. On his first day there, he realizes that this is what he’s been needing, and soon he gets his mother, who is suffering from a major depression, to also participate. The family healing begins.

Everything is going wrong for Becky, however. She sneaks out at night, hangs with the wrong crowd, and is picking fights with her mother and with Madeline. Madeline feels left behind and begins questioning the bonds that tie her and her sister. Becky harbor a dark secret, however, and it will take a crisis to finally reveal it. Will Madeline be there for her and help her reconnect with her family when the time comes?