“Life comes at you fast. It runs through your body and tries to escape and be expressed in any way possible. It's a lot like...lightning.”

Chris Colfer is an American actor, singer, and author. For his thirty years has written 16 books, which immediately became popular around the world. Colfer released a young adult novel based on the film, titled Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal. Struck by Lightning is a 2012 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Brian Dannelly and written by and starring Chris Colfer. Struck by Lightning was the author’s first published book.

Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips, desperate to escape the idiocy of the people in his hometown, tries to create a way in which he can move to New York, attend the college of his dreams and do something other than live in the footsteps of his drunken, divorced mother.

At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck By Lightning unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school. Carson is the head of the Creative Writing Club and the school newspaper, which no one reads. The main character of the book is alien to everything that surrounds him. He hates school, classmates, everything that is connected to his hometown. The only joy in Clover is his grandmother, who unfortunately has Alzheimer's. One scene which stuck on my mind and can touch to one’s very soul is when Carson’s grandmother tells a story that her grandson wrote, that is, Carson himself. The main character is upset by the realization that the closest person does not recognize him. Such acceptance brings more pain to Carson Phillips. Thus, the story provides a real insight into someone who grows up with many issues in their personal and social life, but through all of it still strives for more in life.

The book hooks with the fact that there is no happy ending. It all ends up pretty tragic. Carson dies from a lightning strike. This kind of tragicomedy makes you think a lot about your own life and makes to start appreciating the world around you. Also, stories like this one remind readers that we can pass away anytime, no matter at what age you are at now.

Despite a tragic ending, readers can find it controversial in a way that this book is not solely about sorrow. Carson Phillips also demonstrates an image of a strong person who is willing to achieve life goals. The book can inspire people to move forward, believe in themselves, and not giving up on their dreams.

Alfiya Kurmanaliyeva Librarian of the International Book Department