Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    It's Kind of a Funny Story
    It's Kind of a Funny Story
    It's Kind of a Funny Story
    Audiobook8 hours

    It's Kind of a Funny Story

    Written by Ned Vizzini

    Narrated by Robert Fass

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life-which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 3, 2012
    ISBN9781452679310
    It's Kind of a Funny Story
    Author

    Ned Vizzini

    Ned Vizzini (1981-2013) was the bestselling author of the acclaimed young adult books It’s Kind of a Funny Story (also a major motion picture), Be More Chill, Teen Angst? Naaah . . . , and The Other Normals. He wrote for the New York Times, Salon, and The New Yorker. He also wrote for TV, including MTV’s hit show Teen Wolf. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages.

    More audiobooks from Ned Vizzini

    Related to It's Kind of a Funny Story

    Related audiobooks

    YA Social Themes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      How To Install Your First Widget

      Feb 9, 2021

      > As you would expect with Apple, the company has made installing widgets in iOS 14 a piece of cake. Your device will come with Apple apps that have their own widgets ready to go, although you might have to launch third-party apps at least once befor

      1 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Sep 1, 2022

      First prize 10 and under Tang Li, age 9 Palmetto Bay, FL My name is Anisa. I was in Hawaii on vacation. I enjoyed sipping refreshing drinks, overlooking the turquoise ocean, and dancing with others, before I overheard that the priceless Fire Ring wa

      10 min read

    • Article

      Carrie Fountain

      Mar 1, 2020

      Outside Dublin, Texas the radio stationsdisappear and I’m left alone with the faintvoice of a call-in psychologist talkingto a man in Cleveland about the voiceof the self, the narratives that voicetells, how they can be sharp and wrongand cut to the

      5 min read

    • Article

      Performance

      Nov 10, 2022

      “Wait here,” the guard said as he shut the door behind him, leaving me by myself. The floor inside the lab was polished, and the air smelled of disinfectant, and yet the room felt unclean. Leaves shook on a tree outside the window, making shadows on

      18 min read

    • Article

      Good Bones

      Mar 19, 2020

      Good Bones
      18 min read

    • Article

      Everyone Has 32 Teeth

      Sep 29, 2023

      Everyone Has 32 Teeth
      11 min read

    • Article

      Chosen

      Aug 2, 2018

      Chosen
      10 min read

    • Article

      We Don't Talk About That Here

      Nov 4, 2021

      We Don't Talk About That Here
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ben Marcus

      Jun 15, 2018

      My wife, Gin, once knocked gently on my head, as if it were a door. “Hello,” she kept saying. “Hello. Who’s in there?” She and our therapist, Dr. Sherby, laughed a little about this, so I did, too. What fun. Keep knocking on my head like that, like i

      23 min read

    • Article

      Shame Is Ever-Present When You’re Sitting in a Cell

      Oct 23, 2020

      Between a strained relationship with my family and the death of a good friend, I’ve struggled to feel like I’m worth something.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Pleasure Palace

      Sep 1, 2022

      Pleasure Palace
      15 min read

    • Article

      Somehow I Became Respectable

      May 21, 2019

      Somehow I Became Respectable
      4 min read

    • Article

      This Comedian Says Words Often Fail During Tragedy. And That's OK

      Oct 1, 2023

      Rob Delaney found out his youngest son Henry had brain cancer. This is a story about the saddest of places life can take you, but it's also about the biggest of loves and how to scrape up bits of joy.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Mothers As Makers Of Death

      Aug 14, 2018

      Mothers As Makers Of Death
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Cautionary Tale

      Apr 1, 2019

      A Cautionary Tale
      2 min read

    • Article

      Night Terrors

      May 12, 2020

      Night Terrors
      4 min read

    • Article

      So Human, So Beautiful

      Dec 11, 2013

      So Human, So Beautiful
      4 min read

    • Article

      Come with Me

      Dec 1, 2022

      Come with Me
      12 min read

    • Article

      Henry Winkler

      Jan 8, 2024

      Henry Winkler
      6 min read

    • Article

      Q-tip Options

      Oct 10, 2023

      I am not a good person. Abby was at my door. My reaction when I saw her should have been more charitable. She was young and cute and needy, but all I wanted was a nice relaxing day at home. When the police questioned her, I should have let them take

      16 min read

    • Article

      What I’ve Learned

      Nov 23, 2022

      What I’ve Learned
      3 min read

    • Article

      Parakeet

      May 29, 2020

      Parakeet
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for It's Kind of a Funny Story

    4/5

    1,089 ratings79 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      i love this book. super frank and just awesome.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I had high hopes for this book, and unfortunately, it didn’t meet them. It does a great job about talking about depression and how it affects you but I just felt it was all very rushed. The actual plot was very rushed, yet it only takes place over like five days. I also felt the author could’ve gone into much more detail on almost everything in the book. There were quite a few plot holes and it left me with a lot of questions, and not in a good way.
    • 5/5
      I’m not a fucking book snob. I just wanted to read something I could relate to and I found what I needed. I wish that I read this when I was 13. I’m going through a shit time right now and this made me feel less alone.
    • 1/5
      WHY IS THIS NOT AVAILABLE IN MY COUNTRY (Philippines)??? I want to listen to it.
    • 5/5
      It was so good! I highly recommend! Very well done.
    • 1/5
      I was not a fan of this book. Honestly, I didn't want to finish it, but I had invested so much time into wanting to like it that I had to see it through to the end.
      While it covers an important topic of mental health in youth, and may be relatable to teenage boys, the story is exactly that; thoughts of a hormonally charged teenage boy in a psych ward with some other mentally ill adults. I failed to connect to any of the characters and the story line was flat and anticlimactic at best.
    • 5/5
      Review was originally posted at Tina, The Bookworm

      This book could best be described by the following quote:

      "Everybody has problems. Some people are just hide their crap better than others."

      I've literally written this review a million times because I don't know how to phrase everything I want to say about this book. One thing is for sure, it is kind of a funny story. And it is also a realistic (in certain aspects) about what many people go through with any mental illness. It is not something one can simply get over it is something that needs time, patience, and most importantly support.

      It's kind of a funny story is told in Craig's point of view, he explains how he got to the place he's in. He busts his ass to get into one of the top high schools in his city. I mean the kid studies day and night LITERALLY. Then when he gets in, he let's go a bit, the pressure isn't so much he can relax he makes a couple friends Aaron and Nia. Aaron didn't have to study for the test that is required to get into this awesome school, he kicked back did drugs and relaxed while Craig studied ALL THE TIME. Once Craig gets to Executive Pre-Professional High School he realizes that what he thinks was the hardest part (getting in) was in fact the easiest and staying in Executive Pre-Professional High School is the hardest part. He has a ton of homework, a ton of activities he has to be apart of and a bunch of other requirements that MAKE MY HEAD HURT.

      And he just snaps and lands into this depression from all the anxiety and these thoughts of "if I don't do this assignment I'm going to fail and failing means I won't be in Executive Pre-Professional High School and then I won't be the President and then I'll be homeless." literally this is how his thinking was a couple times. I understood it because I have cracked under pressure. You've heard me mention that I am an overachiever. So when I was in college (I had to drop out) I use to take 7 classes a semester plus working almost full time, pregnant and with two little ones. YEAH I'M NUTS I KNOW! Did I crack under pressure DAMN RIGHT I DID. And I understood what it feels like to have all those thoughts of this happens then that happens and then that happens. I didn't fall into a depression but I did understand and I was able to connect to Craig on that level.

      What I really liked about the book:
      I really liked Craig's voice. I mean I think I say this all the time but I'd really saw myself being friends with him, like an actual friend not like the other stupid girls in the book. He seemed to be someone who I could see myself hanging out with.

      I also liked how it didn't just deal with depression it dealt with other mental illnesses as well. It also broke my whole idea of what a mental ward looks like it. I mean I use to picture like the ones in a scary movie and after reading this book I realize I was so wrong and I'm sorry if I totally offend someone about that.

      I loved his support system, his family even his school was pretty supportive of him trying to get better. I can't emphasis this enough YOU NEED A VERY GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM TO GET THROUGH SOMETHING LIKE THIS. My cousin has a mental illness and all her immediate family tells her is to get over it. They don't show support and she's constantly struggling with her illness because she doesn't have the support she needs from her family to really get the help she needs. I was so glad to see that Craig had a great support system and a family who wanted him to get better.

      What I didn't like about the book:
      I didn't really like the ending it was one of the things that I didn't find realistic.

      The little bit of insta-love that I didn't agree with but I guess anything could happen right?

      Aaron and Nia. If you've the book you'll understand why I didn't like them.

      Overall
      I really enjoyed this book. The opening line definitely drew me and I found myself wanting to know what happened to Craig. How did he get depressed? Was he going to overcome it? Like I mentioned I thought it was pretty realistic and really liked the fact that it not only involved depression but other mental illnesses as well. Overall, this was a pretty good book and I do recommend it.

    • 5/5
      Very interesting- I love that saying of” everyone has problems”
    • 3/5
      An enjoyable read about a part of life that most YA readers will hopefully never have to experience.

      As someone who has dealt with depression for years, Vizzini's descriptions of the feelings attached to mental illness and Craig's fears and concerns really hit home for me. I enjoyed and appreciated seeing how realistically things like talk therapy and psychopharmacology were handled.

      What took this away from being a four- or five-star book, however, was the ending. Everything seemed to fit together so neatly and so well; Craig gets the girl, makes friends with everyone there, manages to change everyone's life, and regain his will to live all in five days. It felt forced, and somewhat cliched.

      All in all, though, still a good read on a tough subject. Recommended!
    • 2/5
      Depressed high school freshman Craig Gilmer checks himself in to the local psychiatric facility for a short stay and implausibly gets put into a very unstructured program on the adult floor. There he meets a variety of colorful characters and seems to forget he is depressed. In five days everything turns around for him.This book got a lot of publicity when its author committed suicide after its publication. As sad as that was, I don’t think this book lives up to the hype as either a profound portrait of depression or a realistic depiction of psychiatric hospitalization.
    • 4/5
      Craig has focused his life on getting into on ultra-elite high school. But after succeeding at getting in, he finds the stress of the school too great. One night, he decides to kill himself. It seems like the best solution. But he ends up calling a suicide hotline instead, and they send him to the nearest emergency room, which conveniently is only a couple of blocks from his house. He is checked into the psychiatric ward, where the bulk of the book takes place.One of the reviewers quotes on the back says, "A book about depression that's not the least bit depressing." That's a pretty good one sentence review. Craig's parents, friends, nurses and doctors all have important roles to play in the book, but they don't take up much space. The majority of the book is about the other patients in the ward and Craig's interactions with them. Vizzini accomplishes something quite brilliant here. Most of us have not spent much time around people with mental illnesses, at least not those severe enough to warrant a check-in at the psych ward of the hospital. When we encounter the mentally ill, we tend to be at best, uncomfortable, and at worst, afraid. There is justification for that. People with extreme mental illnesses can be unpredictable, do socially unacceptable things, say rude of shocking things, and sometimes can be pretty scary. The cast of characters on Six North (the psych ward) are both completely believable, and completely sympathetic. There is Muqtada, an Egyptian American who never bathes, and stays in bed 90% of the time. The President, who is a bundle of energy, outgoing, and wants to play cards all the time. Humble, who can be nice sometimes, but is always sizing everyone up and determining who is a challenge to him. The Professor, who spies on everyone and is deeply paranoid. Noelle, the beautiful girl who has cut her face all up with scissors... and more. Vizzini presents them with all weaknesses intact, but simultaneously makes them sympathetic and un-scary... in some cases likable. I found myself rooting for all of them.Craig's quick semi-recovery from his own depression was not as convincing. While in the psych ward for five days, we are told about one meeting with his therapist, one art therapy session and one music therapy session. The rest of the time we get the feeling he just hung out with the other patients, chewing the fat, playing cards, and healing because of it. My own experience with mental instistutions and wards is limited to watching "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," so I'm no expert, but I have a feeling if you spend 5 days in a ward, there's a lot more time spent with doctors and therapists, group sessions etc. than is presented here.
    • 4/5
      A very interesting read.
    • 1/5
      I just finished reading this book and have some thoughts and feelings that I would like to share. I went into this book thinking this would be a good book about mental illness. My students and I both were interested in it after doing a class on YA Literature and as someone who has mental illness, has checked themselves into a mental institution to prevent myself from committing suicide, and has even gone through ECT treatments I figured it would be something I could also relate to. And I thought it would accurately depict mental illness. I was wrong.Vizzini obviously had very real mental problems that drove him ultimately to take his own life. This I do not dispute and I think it is tragic that that happened to him. But I want to talk about his book. I've read reviews praising this book from top to bottom for it's "accurate" portrayal of mental illness. I disagree. I am not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, but I have gone through serious mental crises and deal with my illness every day, and if you can feel better after 5 days in a mental ward it doesn't seem plausible you had depression (unless you are bipolar and cycled up).At the beginning of the story I can believe he is ill although it sounds more like an anxiety problem than depression (anxiety is horrible too!). He can't keep food down and throws up, he has trouble sleeping, he has racing thoughts that are obsessive and cyclical, and has trouble focusing on his homework. Ultimately he ends up with suicidal ideation and begins to take steps to carry it out. It sounds like anxiety that drives him to despair. Totally believable and relatable and an accurate depiction of mental illness (I'd call it anxiety, he calls it depression, I am not a doctor so whatever, the point is the kid is ill).Now here is where it starts to become something else. Something that, to me, is both an inaccurate portrayal of mental illness and, frankly, a dangerous story to pass off to teens as realistic. It starts small, like where the doctor doesn't correct him when he equates self harm and suicide. As someone who self harms (and research has shown this), the two are not usually related as counterintuitive as that might sound to people who don't self harm. To not make this clear to teens does them a disservice. Then it escalates to the boy being in the psych ward playing games, making connections, drawing pictures, making out with girls, getting rid of toxic friends, and deciding to change to a new school (um why had no one suggested this to him before--parents, therapist, doctor...there were so many things it sounded like the therapist never suggested that it boggles the mind). Suddenly, pretty soon into him being there, he is already feeling a lot better without physical symptoms of his illness and having this rosy attitude. I am sorry, but if he was truly sick he wouldn't be "cured" in a five day stay in the psych ward (he acknowledges at the end he could relapse, but that is besides the point). In addition to that large misrepresentation, he mentions things like the presence of blinds which, I am sorry, would probably not be there. They don't kid around in places like that...anything you could use to harm yourself or kill yourself is not around. You can hang yourself with blinds.I think it is very dangerous that the author seems to conflate mental illness and a life crisis. At the beginning of the book, like I said, I believe it sounds like he has a real illness. It is good that Vizzini shows teens what that can be like and how to deal with an acute crisis like being suicidal. But then to pivot to this "life crisis" attitude in the hospital where the kid does not seem sick at all, but merely needs to get his s*** together (which is admittedly very hard and is stressful...but is not mental illness) is shocking. A mental ward is not a spa or a short retreat from the world. It's the LAST place you want to go. It is the LAST resort. You sure as hell don't normally leave there walking on sunshine and roses because of how refreshed you feel. You are glad to get out, but you aren't suddenly not sick.I want to talk about Vizzini for a moment. He supposedly modeled this book on his own experiences. So I wonder--did it really happen like that? It seems unlikely. If so, he couldn't have been that sick, but we know for a fact that he was because he ultimately took his own life. From what I've read about him he sounds like he was a really nice guy and that makes me wonder if he wrote the book to give a rosy picture and a happy ending to something he knew didn't have one. Hopefully it wasn't to sell books.So as a reader who has mental illness and that has spent a very short stint in a mental institution and had serious mental issues for over a decade, I would say I am extremely disappointed in the portrayal of the whole damn thing. I find it personally offensive to treat the portrayal of mental illness in such a cavalier and inaccurate way. I also think it is dangerous and does a huge disservice to kids dealing with serious mental health problems. They shouldn't be told there is some quick fix. They should be shown how things are and shown characters that truly learn to cope and deal.But I sympathize with the author because he did have problems. Maybe he just wanted the happy ending his issues could not give him. I'd like to think that rather than that he did it for better sales. His misrepresentation is not good, but maybe he did it as much to himself as he did to anyone.
    • 5/5
      This book is the kind that would leave you hopeful and relieved. It was definitely worth my time. But having the knowledge regarding Vizzini's recent death…it saddens me. I wish he chose to be more like Craig. But I guess there are things that overwhelm you in a state of hopelessness that you simply give up.

      I have mixed feelings after reading this. But I really liked the story a lot. I thought a psychiatric ward was some sort of a scary place like AHS's Asylum. Heh. But the characters in this book have grown on me, if I was being honest. Jimmy especially (it the truth!). Also, it's kinda relatable because Executive Pre-Professional School sounds a lot like UP. The pressure, the homework, the grades, and everything. Huh.

      Just my two cents. I'll say it again: this book is worth it. :-) Happy 2014, everyone! (and talk about finishing my 2013 Reading Challenge at the last three hours. Haha)
    • 2/5
      I went to read this book with an open mind, and I think this seriously only scratches the surface of depression and just downplays the severity of it at times, even in its own story. The only thing that got me through this book is thinking about it on a personal level.
    • 1/5
      it just felt boring to me and i never connected with the characters. i didn't even bother to finish it
    • 1/5
      I tried to read it, but it sucked.
    • 3/5
      A great read. Well-written, insightful to a psyche, and interesting. I felt like I really got Craig, and everyone was ... I feel like I'm going to repeat the same words over and over. This looks really good. It also looks like the movie isn't true to this book, which is a shame, the messages were great and really strong. Yes, yes, yes. This book hits home.
    • 3/5
      The thing is, there's a lot about this book that I liked very much. How it's a probably fairly accurate depiction of what depression can be like, but also playfully told, beautifully written, enjoyable. That's a huge thing to do.

      But then. Half of the book is crappy romance, and/or Craig demonstrating what a really, really male male protagonist he is.

      And, worse, this oh so sweet story features the worst bit of "casual" transphobia I've read in a long time now. You remember Jennifer/Charles? Now, we don't even learn if they are gender fluid, female or actually (as everybody seems to think) male with a thing for dressing up as a woman. That's because they're nothing more than a prop to tell us how very, very crazy that place is. Disgusting, but ok, hardly surprising. But then there's this really long thing about their adam's apple being hidden by their shirt.

      And, surprise surprise, when Craig gets to make out with Noelle he kisses her neck and notices how there is no adam's apple. Yeah? Ok? People notice stuff about people? But no, he goes on to think how that's because she's a real girl. Ouch! No, not ok.

      No, maybe it's incidental and not linked to Jennifer/Charles at all. But remember how in the beginning, Craig is thinking about depression being speech without verbs, only nouns, and in the end he's all about LIVING ALL THESE VERBS? Yeah, maybe not that incidental. Ned Vizzini wrote beautifully even when he wrote intolerable, hateful bullshit.

      Or maybe it's ok because HEY, REALISM, but then again it is heavily implied that Craig gets better because he gets a girlfriend. Love can cure everything, love gets the verbs back into your life, whatever. And this is so obviously cliché and not how brains work for most people that a slightly less cissexist than average protagonist really doesn't seem that far off by comparison.


      What a pity, but for me all that really turned It's Kind of a Funny Story from a great book into an annoying waste of time.
    • 5/5
      This book's been on my radar for the longest time (I love a good mental health novel) and HOORAY, it was so worth the wait! First of all, let me say that it's quite refreshing to read one of these stories from the perspective of an average guy; not a painfully innocent or shy boy, or a kooky girl, but a regular, testosterone-driven, vaguely worldly fifteen year-old who likes video games, pot and jerking off. Craig's description of his five days in a mental hospital, which he checks himself into after a long battle with depression and a night of suicidal crisis - is not only pithy, warm and very realistic (it is drawn from Vizzini's own experiences), it is also, as the title suggest, really kind of funny. It's filled with wonderful characters and it's possibly the most relatable mental health novel I've read yet; I've scrawled so many notes and hearts and stars in the margin to mark passages to go back to next time I need to feel that I'm not alone and that other people have had the same weird thoughts as I'm having. I also watched the movie adaptation, which is quite faithful to the book and put a big smile on my face by the time the credits rolled. Highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      Being a psychology major at the time that I read this, it really helped me to enjoy the book to its full extent. Every aspect of this book was intriguing, which is probably why I was able to finish it so quickly. The author's account of the psychiatric unit in the hospital was very interesting. It's nice to be able to read about things like that through a patient's perspective. I loved that he was able to meet so many interesting characters. Those characters pulled the book together. They gave Craif the ability to fight his battle with depression. And it was probably best that he was put with the adults instead of being surrounded by people his own age. Older individuals tend to be more knowledgeable and I think that Craig was able to gain a lot of insight from them. He became more accepting, not just of others, but of himself. I would highly recommend this book, not just to psychology majors, but to everyone in general. You don't have to be a psych major in order to enjoy this book. You just need to read it.
    • 4/5
      Raw, honest, hilarious, heartbreaking & hopeful. I loved it. It just became one of my all time favorite YA books.
    • 2/5
      Could't finish it.
    • 5/5
      An important book. Excellent, funny, and warm treatment of clinical depression and suicide and mental illness in teens. Some sex and drugs -- probably appropriate for 8th grade and up.
    • 5/5
      The main character is easy to relate to and the story is easy to follow. It gradually captures a reader's interest.
    • 5/5
      Book > Movie. In a million ways.
      I wish there was a way to bring this wonderful man back to life.
      But even so, I don't think anything would be better.
      RIP Ned Vizzini.
    • 5/5
      I saw the movie adaptation of this book a while back and was unimpressed, so I was expecting the book to be similarly disappointing. Luckily, I was wrong. It wasn't the easiest book to get into at first, though. And I wasn't that big of a fan of the way the book was set-up in parts--at least with regards to the first few parts of it. There was also some mild slut-shaming in it, but there wasn't so much that it ruined the book for me.

      The main character and his situation were so easy to relate to. Vizzini's explanations of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation were so spot on that it was almost scary. I wish that this book or one like it had existed when I was a teenager because I think it definitely would have made things a lot easier.

      It is a quirky, funny story, but it also is a really deep story. It's got some really sad moments, and if you make it through without crying, then you're doing better than I did. The only reason that it took me 3 days to read this book is that I ended up crying so much while reading it.

      This is probably the most realistic work of fiction that I've ever seen for what it is like to have a mental illness and what it's like to have to spend time in a psychiatric unit. It's really wonderful and worthwhile. I would recommend this to anyone who has a history of mental illness and to friends of people with mental illnesses, because it explains what the mentally ill deal with on a day-to-day basis. Even though it is meant for a young adult audience, the way it's written makes it feel appropriate for adults as well.
    • 4/5
       Craig Gilner is a 15 year old depressed boy. Not very uncommon for our society. He has all the symptoms of it, he doesn't eat, doesn't sleep, and likes to just waste time. Some days are better than others, and he thinks he got "the shift" which means that his brain has shifted into the right place and he'll be happy again. It all just goes down hill again though. He does have friends, but all they do is smoke and throw parties, and Craig does like that sometimes, but it doesn't make him happy. And he has a nice and caring family but nothing really helps him get better. He has always had the option to kill himself, but has never done it. He always knew he could resort to that, and at one point he does. What makes it worse is that his best friend got together with the girl of his dreams, and he thinks he deserves Nia more than Aaron (his friend) does.One night he gets worse then usual and decides to try and go to the Brooklyn Bridge to throw himself off of it and kill himself. He says he loves his family and goes in his mothers room to go to sleep. After he can't sleep, he wastes time, and wakes up to go ride his bike to the bridge. He decides to call the local suicide hotline, and they send him to the nearest hospital. Which then he checks in to the mental ward. He meets people, patients. workers, and a specific girl he likes, even more then Nia. One day Nia comes along, right after her and Aaron broke up, so naturally Craig was happy that Nia was free, but he doesn't know whether he like Nia or Noelle (the girl he meti n the hospital.) So he come to a conclusion that Noelle is more like him and likable, but Nia eventually gets back together with Aaron. In the end Craig goes and switches schools (that what all the stress caused) and lives a much happier life while keeping in touch with Noelle, Aaron, and Nia. I do not admire how happy this book ends. It just doesn't seem as real as it could possibly be. Other than that, it was a very nice and inspiring book.
    • 3/5
      I really liked this book. He was very believable and you could genuinely connect with his situation. The other characters in the hospital were very interesting and created contrast between the diversity of lifestyles. Also the creation of the maps were creative and really gave him hope which made for a great ending.
    • 3/5
      Read on January 12, 2014 There's a lot of pressure on teens to be the best at everything...pretty, smart, thin, athletic. In this novel, Craig puts a lot of pressure on himself, so much so that he ends up admitting himself to his neighborhood psychiatric facility. Once there we meet an interesting cast of characters that all are there to heal themselves but also end up helping Craig. The ending felt inauthentic, after only five days Craig feels the Shift. But part of what brought on his recent suicidal thoughts would have been his suddenly not taking his prescription. Is five days enough time for that to properly balance him? I'm not sure.But despite that, there's a very real message here: you can change your situation. You can manage the craziness of life. And no matter what: live.