Crazy by Hans Nolan

Pages: 348

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Real life / Social issue

Notes for parents: Contains issues of mental illness.

The Back Cover

Fifteen-year-old Jason has perfected the art of invisibility. His mother has died, his father is going crazy, and Jason is trying to hold his crumbling home together while not drawing attention to his father’s deteriorating mental condition. He can rely on no one except the characters in his head, who speak to him and offer guidance as he stumbles through life. But Jason’s well-honed habit of invisibility falls away when his sudden impulses at school finally get him noticed and he is forced to attend lunchtime counselling sessions.

Fearing exposure, Jason is hesitant to share with the three other students who join him for these lunchtime sessions – but soon his father goes missing. Turning to the others seems to be Jason’s only way out. Together, the four navigate their lives and learn to support one another, becoming a family of sorts. And when his father is committed and Jason is taken in by a foster family, he truly discovers that he cannot do everything on his own.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

Actually, the back cover tells you everything. I hate when the description gives you the entire story! So much for creating a little suspense…

What’s good?

I was with Jason every step of the way. The author does a fabulous job of creating a sympathetic character. I felt his fear and frustration and the deep love he has for his father and I laughed at the way he coped using his inner voices. All of the characters—real and imaginary—are very well developed and fit perfectly in this very emotional experience with mental illness.

Best part: Crazy Glue.

What’s not so good?

I have no complaints. The laugh track seemed a little unnecessary at times, but it wasn’t terrible.

Worst part: Laugh track, I guess.

Recommendations þþþþo

If you like emotional rides, great characters, and a hope-filled story, then this is the book for you!

Nolan, Hans. Crazy. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2010.