Mim’s journey is simultaneously a physical pursuit to reunite with her mother and an internal quest to understand herself and learn how to be okay. Her father’s sister had mental health issues and depression before committing suicide, and he is constantly terrified that Mim might have the same issues because she is prone to dark thoughts and strange behaviors.

Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland. Mental health is a key theme-both how Mim experiences it and how others view it. After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the wastelands of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. This book is genius, war paint and all. Mosquitoland is equal parts sharp, sad, and surreal. I dont remember life before Mim, and I dont want to.

The story is told linearly as Mim travels from Mississippi to Ohio, and the flashbacks and letters fill in critical details about Mim’s history that reveal her thoughts and reasons for running away. The 16-year-old has been forced to move from Cleveland to Mississippi with her dad and annoying stepmother, Kathyparents who both pressure their daughter to take antipsychotic drugs for her. 'In Mosquitoland, David Arnold has created one of the most unique narrative voices to show up in the world of young adult fiction. The story is told in the first-person point of view, and it alternates between Mim’s present journey, flashbacks to her past, and letters to her in-utero half-sister. She steals her stepmother’s money, runs away, and buys a Greyhound ticket to Ohio. Mim accidentally overhears her dad talking about her sick mom and decides that her mom needs her. Her mom has stopped calling or sending letters. Mim doesn’t adjust well to the move: She misses her mom, resents her dad, and hates her stepmother. Shortly before her journey, her parents divorced, and her father remarried and moved the family to Mississippi.

The story follows 16-year-old Mary Iris Malone, also referred to as Mim, as she travels alone from Jackson, Mississippi, to Cleveland, Ohio.

Mosquitoland by David Arnold