Help! I'm Alive

- Blurb -

When a teen dies, four people are left spinning, each trying to deal with their grief and face the dissatisfactions of their lives. Fresh, insightful, and propulsive, Help! I' m Alive sensitively and authentically explores the challenges of death. . . and of living on. A powerfully emotional story of four people touched by a teen' s death, award-winning author Gurjinder Basran' s Help! I' m Alive is a clear-eyed exploration of meaningful connection in the modern era After video footage of Jay' s death is shared on social media, a suburban Vancouver community is left to try to make sense of what happened to Jay and whether his death was an accident or a suicide. Help! I' m Alive explores the aftermath through the eyes of four people all suddenly confronted with who they have been and how they should be in the wake of such loss. Jay' s former best friend, Ash, wonders what happened to their friendship and questions the relationships he has now; Winona, Jay' s troubled girlfriend struggles with guilt and abandonment; Anik, Ash' s older brother, is on a search for the meaning of life but hasn' t left his basement apartment in months; and Pavan, Ash and Anik' s mother, finds Jay' s death lays bare all her personal and maternal anxieties. Unflinching but life-affirming, Help! I' m Alive is a Gen Z and Gen X coming-to-terms story about loneliness and connection, love and suffering, and the moments that bring us together and drive us apart. ' Help! I' m Alive doesn' t exploit the despair that can lead to suicide but instead asks its characters and readers to look at the ways they connect - or don' t - in modern society . . . Basran' s insight, voice and deep character work make this an affecting read. ' - Shelf Awareness