Review: The Day After Tomorrow by Sandee Sgarlata

The Day After Tomorrow
by: Sandee Sgarlata

Paperback: 78 pages
Publisher: AC Publishing, Inc; First edition (February 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0980082420
ISBN-13: 978-0980082425# Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches

The Day After Tomorrow may be short in page length ( 78 pages ), but it is long on impact, meaning and power. Starting out, the story reads a bit like a diary of a teenage girl as she struggles with self image, the power struggle of freedom from parental control and most importantly, that first day of High School. The main character, Julia Monroe, talks to the reader, as if in any day to day conversation. Author Sandee Sgarlata writes in a way that is simple and allows the reader to walk in Julia's shoes, knowing her thoughts and internal struggles every step of the way.

The beginning focuses on those first couple days of school, including the love of her life telling the entire school that Julia and he had sex the previous afternoon. Left feeling betrayed my such a horrific lie, Julia goes to Michael's house to confront him, only to find him in the arms of another girl. What follows changes Julia's life forever.

The Day After Tomorrow is a painful peek inside the torment that a young teen girl goes through and the overwhelming decisions that they must make in this day and age. I have to say that as a mother of a young girl, I found the story a bit painful. The reasoning for this is that Julia's mother seemed to truly care for Julia, wanting only the best for her and for her to be safe. However, Julia only saw this as in intrusion into her life and truly resented her mother.

The second half of the story, however, is truly uplifting, hopeful and eyeopening. In all honesty, though geared toward Julia as a young teen girl, I feel the lessons learned in The Day After Tomorrow are lessons for everyone - no matter their age, sex, or walk of life. Through the story, I felt as though the author was talking directly to me. Teaching me that learning to forgive and forget is a vital step toward living a truly happy and fulfilled life. Take a step back from your ruling emotions (your ego) and look through the eyes and listen through the ears of your Higher Self. The Higher Self is the treasure and key to a happy life - we just have to be willing to listen and not allow it to be buried by our ego.

This was a deeply stirring and emotional story for me. It touched me and really made me think and put different aspects of my life into perspective. Out of all the self help and motivational books that I have read and come across, this simple little book has taught me and spoken to me in a way that all of the others combines, never managed to. Learning to live life without grudges, anger and hurtful thoughts may be difficult, but not only rewarding emotionally, but physically rewarding as our bodies are not contaminated with all of the harmful feelings and thoughts.

I wanted to share one of my favorite passages within The Day After Tomorrow:

Pg. 50

"You see Julia, what you just said is an example of how our 'ego' gets in the way. Acceptance is about coming from a place of love and only love. It's about allowing Mom to be who she is regardless of your own ideas of how you think she 'should' be. Acceptance is letting go of what you think about another person and allowing them to be who they are. The important thing here is to accept with love."

Julia learns an important lesson that accepting people for who and what they are is what is important - not condemning them because they are not who you think they should be, or do or say what you think they should. This is something that everyone should remember.

The Day After Tomorrow should be in every classroom - even starting in Junior High. The pressures that young people go through at a heart-breakingly young age is truly frightening. I honestly feel that to incorporate the book into the school curriculum would be a step in a very positive direction. On the flip side, I also feel that adults can learn a lot from this book also. It is too easy to get caught up in the hubbub and stress of day to day life, The Day After Tomorrow sits things back into their right perspective and would benefit each and every person.

I can't recommend The Day After Tomorrow enough. I anxiously await the next in this series and will be recommending this to everyone! Pick up a copy - it will truly change how you look at the people and world around you.

*overall rating 5/5

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A glimpse at The Day After Tomorrow:

Teen life is difficult, and for Julia Monroe, her world is

crumbling down...Can she give peace a chance?

The Day After Tomorrow is the first novel in the Julia Monroe Series. The series tackles common issues to empower today's youth, so they know that they are not alone in their struggles. The story opens on the first day of Julia’s freshman year of high school. Julia’s melodramatic mind eloquently and dynamically demonstrates the all too familiar thoughts and feelings relevant to the average teen. Like so many young women, Julia’s thoughts are consumed by the object of her affection -- her boyfriend, Michael. Julia arrives at Michael's house and says "...he opens the door and has this huge, gorgeous smile on his face. He opens his arms up and gives me a huge bear hug. Then, he looks me straight in the eye and kisses me. Oh my God, I think I'm going to faint."

Julia then becomes distraught after a series of unfortunate events. She feels like her world is crumbling down, she's miserable and she doesn't know what to do --will she give peace a chance?

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About Sandee Sgarlata:

Getting boys to notice you. Mean girls. Fitting in. Sandee Sgarlata met dozens of young girls with these typical teen issues as a former competitive figure skating coach, but one student still stands out to her today. This 14-year-old girl had difficulty facing the mounting stress and problems she had with friends and school. As her figure skating coach, Sandee decided to share her own struggles from her past – drug abuse, depression and grieving over the loss of family – and how she overcame them. The two remained close, and when her former student graduated from high school, she told Sandee how important the story was to her and how it helped to shape her teen years.

Moved by the impact her story had on this teen girl, Sandee felt inspired to write a book that would help teens take control of their destiny. In her new book, The Day After Tomorrow (AC Publishing, ISBN -0-9800824-2-5, February 2009, $9.95), the teenaged Julia Monroe experiences her first heartache, the power of a negative body image and an over-protective mother. The Day After Tomorrow tackles common teen issues to empower youth, so they can know they are not alone in their struggles.

Sandee was born in Portsmouth, Va., and started her ice skating career at the age of six. After losing her biological father as a toddler, followed by her brother 10 years later, Sandee began to look for ways to medicate her pain. Due to the grief she experienced at such a young age, and the pressures of the competitive figure skating world, Sandee began experimenting with drugs and alcohol in college. She successfully broke free from her dependence on drugs and alcohol in 1991, and decided to use her own journey to assist those dealing with addiction.

Sandee is a co-founder of 4give4peace, an organization that helps others strengthen their life skills. By incorporating self-awareness and meditation techniques, she works with individuals to cope with substance addictions. With an emphasis on the power of forgiveness and finding peace, Sandee is organizing Alliance for Peace Foundation, a non-profit organization that will mentor teens and help them work through adolescent issues, such as low self-esteem, managing stress and cultivating healthy friendships.

A certified life coach with Coach Training Alliance, Sandee is the former CEO of Eclipse Technical Resources, as well as a retired national-level, competitive figure-skating coach and gold medalist in ice dancing. Sandee lives in Ashburn, Va., with her eight year old son and husband of 17 years, Mark. She is currently working on the other books in the Julia Monroe series and is an active member of the Screen Actors Guild and United States Figure Skating Association.

You can read additional articles by Sandee Sgarlata here: http://www.juliamonroe.net/abouttheauthor.html