Releasing Lisa

Lisa Zuccerelli just wants to be normal. At the end of her senior year in high school, she has the distinction for the most detentions in the history of the school, thanks to an English teacher’s betrayal. Seemingly left with no other choice after a distressing graduation ceremony, she packs two weeks’ worth of rations, a canoe, and her broken heart and flees to the Canadian wilderness, where she hopes to piece her life back together and realize happiness.

After Lisa paddles her way to a campsite, she is forced to deal with the complex emotions associated with the stigma of a learning disability she can do nothing to change. But as Lisa is about to discover, nature has its own grim way of teaching lessons, and it is not long before she is rescued from the unforgiving wilderness by a kind family who helps her find her way back home. After facing several surprises, Lisa meets Heidi Barton, an Anishinaabe tutor who may just have the healing powers to help release the girl from her struggles—and find her true self.

Releasing Lisa shares the tale of a teenager’s emotional journey to overcome her learning disability and fears with help from the Canadian wilderness and an Anishinaabe friend.

Richard R. Roach, MD, FACP, is an assistant professor of internal medicine at Western Michigan University School of Medicine. He enjoys canoeing Boundary Waters and Quetico Provincial Park. Roach is the author of Saving Skunk and texts on tropical medicine. He lives with his wife, Priscilla, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.