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    Sure Signs of Crazy
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    Sure Signs of Crazy
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    Sure Signs of Crazy
    Audiobook6 hours

    Sure Signs of Crazy

    Written by Karen Harrington

    Narrated by Cassandra Morris

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Love can be a trouble word for some people. Crazy is also a trouble word.
    I should know.

    You've never met anyone exactly like twelve-year-old Sarah Nelson. While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch. She collects trouble words in her diary. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two.

    Since then, Sarah and her dad have moved from one small Texas town to another, and not one has felt like home.

    Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family's Big Secret. She makes unexpected new friends and has her first real crush, and instead of a "typical boring Sarah Nelson summer," this one might just turn out to be extraordinary.

    A Hachette Audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateMay 20, 2014
    ISBN9781478900481
    Unavailable
    Sure Signs of Crazy

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    Reviews for Sure Signs of Crazy

    4/5

    87 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      children's realistic fiction; 12 year old's dysfunctional family drama (PG-13--probably 6th grade and up). I liked Sarah's voice/character a lot but got a bit tired at the end waiting for her to wrap things up (possibly because I'd read another book in between, right before I tried to finish this one, and had lost momentum/train of thought). Nice sprinkling of more challenging vocabulary words (though the definitions weren't always included, as with "infractions"). There were several funny moments that made me laugh out loud, too.
    • 5/5
      Love, love, love this book! Sarah's love of words, her highlighting the dictionary, and her letters to Atticus Finch make me wish she was my friend.
    • 5/5
      I bought this novel - in hardback, even though I have limited space left on my shelves! - because of the connection with To Kill A Mockingbird, and despite taking too long in getting around to actually read the thing, I am so glad I did. Waiting until I was in the right mood to re-read Mockingbird also means that I was better able to appreciate just how well Karen Harrington balances source and inspiration in her story, having her twelve year old narrator write beautiful letters to 'Atticus' while mirroring the spirit of Scout's journey of discovery.Books like this, aimed at 'young readers', almost make me wish I was growing up twenty years later, although adults can take just as much as pre-teens from this multi-layered and honestly written novel. Any story that can make me laugh and cry within the space of a few hours is worth keeping, and Sarah's emotive narration had a powerful effect on me. I don't think you need to have survived a troubled childhood to identify with a girl whose conflicting feelings make her doubt her own sanity, but I have definitely been on the same wavelength: 'It's funny how you don't know you are a bunch of pieces until someone hugs you together'.Yes, all the regular character types found in YA novels are featured - the loving but dysfunctional family, the cute and quirky first crush (bonus points for making Finn an etymology student, though) - but putting them together in the right order is what raises this above most teen literature. Katherine Reay's Dear Mr Knightley, for example, is similar in content and direction, but writing to a beloved fictional character is fitting for Sarah, and works really well in terms of characterisation and plot development. And what could have seemed contrived and callous - using mental illness and alcohol abuse to make Sarah a troubled teen - actually flows really well to form a heartbreaking but also genuinely inspiring reflection of Harper Lee's classic.
    • 4/5
      I'm a sucker for this kind of cover: it just pops and catches your attention. Luckily, the writing and story within delivered. 12 year old Sarah Nelson has a sad, complicated past and yet in spite (or despite) her unwanted noteriety and anguish, she wants to write about what something other than all her troubles. Moving to a new town, making some new friends, and developing her first crush make her summer one of discoveries, acceptance, and both funny and bittersweet moments alike. I think kids will love this story: hand to readers who loved See You at Harry's (Jo Knowles).
    • 5/5
      Mentioned as a valid possibility for an award, I found this mentioned on a Mock-Newbery site. Touched so very much by this book, it is difficult to write a review.Dealing with very difficult subjects, I give this a solid five stars. Written from the perspective of 12 year old Sarah Nelson, page after page I smiled, and I cried as I found wonderful passages that were spot on and went back and re read them time and again. And, while I wanted to know how the book ended, I hated it when the last pages were near. The emotional turmoil of a young woman who experienced what, thankfully, many will not, was written with breath taking clarity and soul searching angst.Sarah was a twin. When her mother tried to drown she and her brother at two years of age, she survived, Simon did not. Found guilty and institutionalized, Sarah's mother sends two communications each year. The birthday card of year 12 sets in motion a journey that is poignant beyond words. She's spent years wondering, worrying if she is crazy like her mother.Living with her father, who no doubt loves her and tries the best he can, when ever there is an anniversary, a tv program, or a newspaper story about the tragedy, he resorts to alcohol, until the days blur by and memories are all that are needed to pull out the bottle, leaving Sarah angry and left to fend by herself. Whenever people learn of the travesty, Sarah's father moves. Landing in yet one more small town community, Sarah once again learns what to and what not to say, how to avoid conversations about parents, and how to lie about events that were not her fault, yet somehow she feels responsible. At the end of the semester, knowing that the when she returns in the fall she must write about her family and compile a family tree, causes severe dread and obsession.An avid book reader and lover of words, when Sarah finds [To Kill a Mockingbird], the book resonates. Writing letters in her diary to Atticus Finch, she longs for a father as honest and courageous as he. It is through these letters that we see the sadness and longing of Sarah for a normal father and a mother who might buy her dresses, put notes in her lunch box and love her. Outstanding! A Must Read!!
    • 4/5
      The heroine's mother tried to drown her as a baby. She successfully drowned her twin brother and is currently in custody in a mental health facility. Her dad moves her around a lot. Once people in one community make the connection to the crime, they pull up stakes and move away to start over somewhere else. In order to cope her father drinks heavily. As part of a summer assignment she writes letters to Atticus Finch. Through this she comes to terms with what has happened in her life.
    • 4/5
      Children's books have ventured into ground once held only by the occasional teen read. Poverty. Alcoholic parents. Dwarfism. Issues that were once taboo for younger, sensitive readers.I was one of those sensitive readers. I still am. I've had to put away a lot of books that are too difficult to read.After i read the blurb on the back, I was very worried that I'd have to set aside this book.No fears. Yes, it is a difficult subject (the main character's mother drowned her son and tried to drown her daughter). But it is perfectly explored, with all the thoughts and questions you might expect from a young girl. I liked this story very much.
    • 5/5
      SURE SIGNS OF CRAZY is the story of a momentous summer in the life of Sarah Nelson. She has just finished sixth grade and turned twelve. Her best friend Lisa has gone away to camp and Sarah has finally convinced her father that she is old enough not to be sent to her grandparents' house for the summer vacation. Sarah and her father have lived many places in Texas and are currently in Garland. Each time they are spotted, they have moved. Sarah's mother is infamous because she tried to kill Sarah and successfully killed Sarah's twin brother Simon when they were two year old. Since then, she has been in a mental asylum and Sarah has only seen her twice. Sarah's father also went to trial regarding the incident but was acquitted. Whenever reporters find and harass them, they move on. Sarah spends the summer taking care of Plant and writing letters to Atticus Finch in her journal. Her favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird and she has adopted Atticus as the mentor and father she wishes she had. Her own father is an alcoholic and Sarah spends a lot of time in the role of caregiver. Sarah has an articulate voice and a fascination with words while still have the world view of a twelve-year-old. She is a faithful observer of those around her but her observations are colored by lack of context because of her lack of maturity. She grows up a lot this summer. She has her first crush (on a very nice young man), confronts her father, and helps an elderly neighbor deal with the loss of her husband. Pair this one with To Kill a Mockingbird. It would also be a great book to use for a classroom literature study.
    • 4/5
      An incredibly sad, touching story about young 12-year-old Sarah whose mother kills her twin brother when they were two years old. Sarah escapes by writing to Atticus, the character from TKAM, as she seems him as a kind of father figure. What is lacking is an in-depth understanding or explanation as to why the mother did what she did -- simply labeling her "crazy" or "mentally ill" is too vague.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book and am embarrassed it took 6 months to get around to reading it. The narrator is a bit old for her age, but it's plausible as she has a dad who is a professor and has also gone through hard life circumstances. Next time someone says "someday, you'll understand" I'm totally using her comeback - ºIt is a linguistic cop-out for people who don't have an answer or don't want to answer." She spends the summer trying to make her life exactly what she wants it to be, with negative and positive consequences. Even though it has a girl protagonist, I think some boys would appreciate it. Cautionary tales include her dad overindulging too often (I love the way she tries to fix that!), as well as no means no, but in a middle school appropriate way. Also- she has a special affection for defining words.
    • 5/5
      Sarah, a twelve-year-old girl is unlike any other preteen; for example: she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch and her best friend is a plant. Some might call her crazy, but it isn’t until she sets out for an investigation of her family secret when the unexpected and extraordinary happens. Great for text-to-self connections based on growing up; writing prompts; character analysis; perspective writing: putting yourself in Sarah’s shoes etc.