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The Other Side of Lost

"This, even if it's crazy, and foolish, and I don't have a chance at succeeding, it's something.  Right now, it's really the only thing."
The Other Side of Lost, by Jessi Kirby, is the story of Mari, a girl who has created a perfect looking life for herself on social media.  She has a huge following and a knack for capturing stunning images that make her well loved in the world of Instagram.  But her real life is anything but perfect.  On the night of her 18th birthday, feeling more alone than ever, she sends a tear filled message out into the cyber world declaring herself a fake.  The next morning she wakes to find an inbox full of hateful messages.  She also finds a box on her front steps.
Two months earlier Mari's cousin, Bri, tragically passed away.  As young girls the cousins dreamed of hiking the John Muir Trail on their 18th birthday.  Over the years the friendship drifted apart, but Bri still planned to hike the trail.  The box Mari finds contains her cousins hiking gear and journal.  In a moment of panic Mari decides to take the gear and hike the trail, ignoring the fact that she has no hiking experience.  She just knows she wants to get away from this fake life she has created and attempt a real one like her cousin lived.
"I sit there in my car, on the valley floor of Yosemite, my cousin's backpack in my trunk, and her plans for the journey of a lifetime sitting on my front seat, and I want my days and my life to count too."
On her 211 mile journey over the John Muir Trail Mari meets some new friends and learns a lot about herself.  She's braver than she ever imagined.  And she's finding that it's ok to let people see the real you.  
This was an excellent book and I'd highly recommend it to those with teenage daughters.  Society today is extremely caught up in social media and the image of perfection.  We are all guilty of it.  Trying to get the perfect shot.  Deleting the bad ones.  This book was a nice reminder that we shouldn't try so hard at creating a perfect life that we forget to live the one we are in.  It was also a great reminder that nature can center us.  It's can clear our heads and heal our souls.  It isn't until Mari is miles from civilization and out in the wild that she truly starts to discover who she wants to be.  
"It's what I've been doing for the last handful of years.  It's what all my pictures were about-putting my best face on, choosing the things I wanted to show the world, careful to reveal only the parts I wanted it to see.  It's easy to do when you have a screen, and filters, and editing, abilities, standing between you and real life.  But when you actually step out into the world, you don't get those options.  Life is right there in front of you, and sometimes the only choice is to be real."

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