The saga of sad vacation books continues (see Review: “I’m Glad My Mom Died” not just your ordinary celebrity memoir [MUSE] for my winter break review!). I took “How to Make Friends with the Dark” by Kathleen Glasgow with me this summer vacation.

I first witnessed the power of Glasgow’s storytelling in 2020 after binge-reading her debut novel, “Girl in Pieces.” Glasgow’s raw honesty and realism in her difficult-to-digest novels put you in the shoes of young women in the most vulnerable periods of their lives.

“How to Make Friends with the Dark” follows Grace (Tiger) Tolliver, a girl who deems herself unsubstantial in most ways. Tiger grew up with only her mother, June, and they were known as a “well-oiled, good-looking, and good-smelling machine.” At age 45, Tiger’s mom dies from an unpredictable and immediate brain aneurysm just as she and Tiger were in the middle of their biggest fight. Not having any immediate family that she knows of, Tiger is thrust into the foster system until a dad is tracked down, in prison. A half-sister barely older than Tiger appears to act as her guardian. As the two adjust to life together, Tiger continues processing her mother’s death and the secrets she didn’t know she had—not always through the healthiest methods.

Tiger’s story is a representation of grief. As she learns the stories of others, both she and the reader can see the different ways it manifests and the pain in all of them. Glasgow uses her own and others’ life experiences to bring a well-rounded perspective on grief. The book leaves you contemplating how grief and the feeling of “missing” can be seen in more ways than one all around you.

I’d recommend everyone read a book like “How to Make Friends with the Dark.” Glasgow especially doesn’t feel the need to sugarcoat anything for the sake of making her characters more “likable” or making their stories more comfortable for the reader. Her characters may be beaten down, tired and broken but they’re also real, strong, and hopeful whether they know it or not.

While I label them “sad vacation books,” really both books I’ve reviewed represent much more than that. If you’re hesitant to spend your own vacation on a “depressing” book, try one out and see how it feels. Often, there’s a lot more hope than sadness if you stay with it. I personally think they’re very much worth the read, on vacation or not.

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from the MUSE Summer Series.