High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol and Addiction, written by David Sheff & Nic Sheff, reviewed by Stephanie Wilson

Summary: David Sheff and his son Nic Sheff teamed up to write High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol and Addiction. The book is part informational text, part memoir and self-help book. It works brilliantly. It's tough to find books about addiction aimed at young adults that reflect honest real-life experiences. High also gives readers the tools they need to get help if they need it. The Sheffs don't set themselves up as experts. Repeatedly, they say that no one treatment plan or style works for everyone. Their real-life experience coupled with factual information presents a realistic portrait of what addiction is like and why life is better sober. The book is broken into four parts: One Hit, One Drink, Just Say Know, Addiction and Afterward. The parts are further broken down into short chapters with a short quote at the beginning. The first and second parts rely heavily on the personal experience of the authors particularly Nic. He goes into intimate detail about how far he had to fall before he realized he needed help. Nic like many people struggling with addiction has a concurrent diagnosis of mental illness. Nic’s father and co-author also battles mental illness. It is extremely common for people with mental illness to self- medicate with drugs and alcohol. The drugs and alcohol give them temporary relief from the anxiety and dark thoughts in their head. Part of the struggle to get and remain sober is having to deal with the very issues the addict was trying to escape. My only complaint is about the design elements of the book. The cover is colorful and eye-catching in shades of yellow, blue and red. Unfortunately, the publishers chose to print the text in blue ink instead of the customary black ink. Blue text is much harder to read especially for readers that wear glasses. Also, the red and blue inner panels with the dot design are groovy but  very distracting. If the point of the design were to simulate the confusion of being high, it worked.

Straight Talk for Librarians: I highly recommend this book for teens, parents of teenagers, teachers and counselors. The authors have shared their story not to “scare teens straight” but rather to give them the information they need to make intelligent choices. The facts are current, accurate and presented with bright, colorful graphs, drawings and diagrams. Addiction can be very subtle and easy to miss especially in high achieving kids. This book could be used as part of a health class or psychology class. Well-written and high interest books about addiction for teens are hard to find. This book would be a fantastic addition to any public library, middle school library or high school.