Lush: complicated issues by Nicole Friend

I just finished a book called Lush. I think this book has a really deep meaning. It is about a girl who has to deal with growing up with a father who always gets drunk. I think this is a really complicated issue. It makes me feel sad that Samantha, the main character, has to grow up in that.

I think being an alcoholic is a really complicated issue that effects a bunch of families each year. Samantha has to learn how to deal with her father always being drunk and hiding it from her friends. She doesn't want her friends Tracy, Vanessa, and Angie to know that her father is like that. Having someone so close to you have a serious problem must be really hard. Samantha starts to write to this boy in high school about her problems. His name is AJK and he really helps Sam through her time of need.

I think alcohol is a serious social issue. Alcohol isn't the problem itself, but really its the abuse of alcohol. Once you start you cant stop and it can lead to things that are really dangerous. For example, domestic violence. You can do things that you really don't mean to do but you are drunk and you don't know what is happening. Some families suffer from violence because of alcohol. It's a very powerful thing. For example, in the book Samantha has a little brother named Luke. She is really protective of him but one day, they were home with their dad who was drunk. They were in the living room making a lot of noise when her dad came in and told them to be quiet. Luke is only three so he laughed. Then the dad hit him over the head with a beer bottle. It was an awful mistake what happened. And it was one of the awful side effects of being drunk.

Also, when you are drunk you make bad decisions. Some people drink and drive which is a really bad decision. You think that you will be alright but really, you don't know what you are doing and you can get into an accident. For example, in the book Lush Samantha's dad picks her up from the library once in a car but he is drunk. Samantha knew that but she had no choice but to get in the car. Her dad didn't get into a real accident but he did hit a mailbox and Sam was terrified. In the book it said, "The entire car ride i was huddled up in the back of seat of the car hoping nothing bad would happen". I think that's really sad and no one would have to suffer from that.
Overall, Lush was a really great book. There is a huge social issue in it and that is the abuse of alcohol.