Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Lenson is a realistic fiction novel that follows Evan Hansen as he navigates his last year of high school dragged down by the heavy weight of anxiety and depression. Evan, the protagonist of the novel, is a shy and lonely boy who is being raised by his single mother after his father abandoned their family to start a new life on his own. Every morning, Evan writes a letter to himself, as his therapist instructed him to do, about how his day is going to go. He dreads going to school as he walks the halls alone and eats lunch in silence. The only bright part of his day is seeing Zoe Murphy, who Evan has had a crush on for years. But like everyone else, Evan is invisible to her. Evan’s only “friend” at the highschool is the antagonist in the novel, Jared. 

The morning of the first day of high school, Evan was too nervous to speak and he could not find the effort to write his letter. During a quiet period at school, Evan sits down and attempts to write his letter. He talks about the loneliness he feels, his unhappiness, and how he feels lost, but most importantly he talks about Zoe Murphy. Evan finalizes his letter then prints it out. As he approaches the copier, Connor Murphy, Zoe’s brother, is reading Evan’s letter. Connor is known as the class outcast. He is known to be overly aggressive, too outspoken, and dangerous; in other words, he is a loose cannon. Seeing his sister's name in Evan’s letter enrages Connor causing him to pocket the letter, scream at Evan, then storm out of the room. Evan is immediately put into a state of panic. He thinks Connor will seek revenge by exposing his letter to the whole school. Evan waits days for Connor to post the letter, but it never comes. In fact, Connor never even comes to school. Evan is on the verge of overcoming his manic episode, thinking the letter is ok and will never get out, until he is called to the office. There, he is greeted by Connor’s parents who are in a grief ridden state. Connor has killed himself; and in the pocket of his jeans, is a letter addressed to Evan Hansen. Evan is numb, he does not deny that he and Connor were friends and his parents find comfort in thinking Connor had someone. From there, Evan’s life spins out of control. In the hopes he is doing the right thing, Evan may end up hurting the people he loves the most as they unknowingly become entangled in his web of lies.

The chapter’s switch viewpoints during the Novel as the readers get to hear both Evan and Connor’s life get turned upside down. Even though he is dead, Connor observes his family and reflects on the decisions of what led up to ending his life. I loved the backstory that Connor’s character provided and the chance to get to know him from the way he views himself, not the clouded viewpoint that others saw him from. You can feel his pain and hurt throughout the novel and the use of voice in this part of the novel was spectacular. As well as using voice throughout the novel, Stevenson also showed a light on how mental illness and growing up with family trauma. While reading the book, I could feel Evan’s anxiety ramping up as the novel went on. In all honesty, I sometimes had to take a break because of how well Stevenson exemplified Evan’s anxiety. Evan’s mom, Heidi, worked tirelessly as a nurse and a student. Stevenson highlighted her struggle of doing her school and work while also balancing motherhood. It is so important to normalize and educate people the struggles of mental illness among teens and adults which I feel that Stevenson did very well in this novel

I would not say that Dear Evan Hansen is a light and easy book to read. The topics Stevenson touches on can be triggering and hard to deal with. But, they educate and highlight very important topics that many people in our society choose to ignore. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to educate themselves on the struggles of mental illness. It kept me turning the page to the very end.