An Invisible Sign of My Own

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Mathematical obsession as a coping mechanism.

A unique recommendation for readers interested in exploring the interconnectedness of logic and superstitions, and how they intertwine with our deepest fears. Bender crafts a memorable and moving story about trauma and healing, with math serving as a metaphor for the search for order and meaning amidst chaos. Mona's journey is sure to resonate with readers who have struggled with anxiety and isolation, and who are looking for a poignant and hopeful reminder of the power of human connection.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

An Invisible Sign of My Own

Regular price $6.06
Unit price
per
$5.45 Thryft Club Member Price
ISBN: 9780099558521
Estimated First-hand Retail Price: $30.18
Authors: Aimee Bender
Publisher: Windmill
Date of Publication: 2001-01-01
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Contemporary, Literary Fiction
Related Topics: Literature
Goodreads rating: 3.68
(rated by 4615 readers)

Description

Aimee Bender's funny, delicately shaded first novel is a constant delight, even at its most warped. An Invisible Sign of My Own tells the story of Mona Gray, a math wiz and a high school track star, whose ordinary childhood comes to pieces when her father is stricken with a mysterious illness. There doesn't seem to be a name for it, but he looks sort of gray and seems frail and unhappy. Whether there's anything really wrong with Mona's dad is unclear, but her fear that he will die, as well as his withdrawal from family life--no more vacations, no running practice with his daughter, no unplanned outings--triggers a corresponding withdrawal in her. Whenever she does well at anything, or starts to enjoy herself, she quits: piano class, dancing lessons, her first boyfriend, running. I quit dessert to see if I could do it; of course I could; I quit breathing one evening until my lungs overruled; I quit touching my skin, sleeping with both hands under the pillow. When no one was home, I tied ropes around the piano, so that it would take me thirty minutes with scissors to get back to that minuet. Then I hid all the scissors. Instead of working out her problems, Mona develops a habit of knocking on wood, and sometimes knocks for an hour before getting to sleep. Eating soap is her other dark indulgence: a surefire anti-aphrodisiac that she calls on whenever she feels sexually attracted to a man. At 20, Mona is recruited to teach math at the local elementary school. To her surprise, she is a brilliant teacher, making addition and subtraction tangible to second graders with a game called Numbers and Materials, in which the students bring in natural or man-made objects that take the form of numbers. When 7-year-old Lisa Venus brings in a zero made of IV tubing from her dying mother's hospital room, Mona recognizes a kindred spirit. But she will have to be healthy herself to help Lisa resist her urge to take on her mother's illness out of grief and loyalty. The complicated connection between children and adults is the underlying theme of this big-hearted novel. However quirky and alarming Bender's methods may seem, An Invisible Sign of My Own is no darker than a fairy tale, and the witch--even if it's the witch within--is reliably vanquished in the end. --Regina Marler
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Mathematical obsession as a coping mechanism.

A unique recommendation for readers interested in exploring the interconnectedness of logic and superstitions, and how they intertwine with our deepest fears. Bender crafts a memorable and moving story about trauma and healing, with math serving as a metaphor for the search for order and meaning amidst chaos. Mona's journey is sure to resonate with readers who have struggled with anxiety and isolation, and who are looking for a poignant and hopeful reminder of the power of human connection.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.