“I wonder where the light goes when it’s not here. I mean, I know that darkness is the absence of light, but where does the light go when it’s not here? And how do you know if it’ll ever come back?” (Runyon 42). This quote describes 14-year-old Brent Runyon’s look at life. When Brent was younger, he was in advanced programs and did well in school. After a couple of years, he started slacking off and ultimately asked his parents if he could leave the program; they agreed. This decision resulted in a downward spiral, consisting of: Brent attempting to kill himself many times, failing most, if not all of his classes, and he also succeeded in hurting himself by setting a gasoline soaked robe on fire while wearing it. Overall, my favorite parts of Burn Journals by Brent Runyon are the detail in the book, the fact that it’s a true story, and how he wrote about a tough/real topic.
The author, Brent Runyon, was very skilled at incorporating all of the small details into the novel. One example of his detail is, “…if human beings have souls, that maybe the souls are in their eyes. That maybe that’s what the color is. Their souls.” (Runyon
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This element is what makes the book such a unique and insightful read. After attempting to commit suicide, Brent went to many, many psychologists in order to prevent another suicide attempt. A quote that shows how he feels about the psychologists is, “You’re all trying to figure out what went wrong inside my head…idiots. You’ll never crack he code that’s inside my head. You’ll never get into my castle. You’ll never get past the gate.”(Runyon 157). In the quote, Brent is saying that no one will understand or get what he is going through, and he wants to keep it that way. The frightful quotes and inappropriate language is why this book shouldn’t be recommended to younger readers, but it might help older readers connect to the story