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It's Kind of a Funny Story
by Ned Vizzini

It's Kind of a Funny Story Cover

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Like many smart, ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner seeks entry into Manhattan's most prestigious school, Executive Pre-Professional High School. With single-minded determination, he works night and day to ace the entrance exam and gets in. That's when everything starts to unravel.

Once Craig starts his new school, he realizes he's just one of many brilliant kids, and he isn't even brilliant, he's average. As Craig starts getting so-so grades, he sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. He begins to have trouble eating, sleeping, and thinking — that's when he tells his parents he's depressed. He goes on medication and talks to therapists, but things keep getting worse, until one night Craig feels so low that he seriously considers suicide.

But instead, Craig calls a hotline. The counselor tells him to get to the nearest hospital, and before he knows it, he's signed, sealed, and delivered into one of Brooklyn's finest psychiatric units.

Craig's new roommate is an Egyptian schoolteacher who refuses to get out of bed. His neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, and a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors. But somehow in this motley crew, Craig finds real friends and kindred spirits who give him strength.

This is a remarkably moving and authentic picture of the physicality, the despair, and even the hilarity, of depression.

Review:

"It's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself' is the attention-grabbing first line of Vizzini's (Be More Chill) highly readable and ultimately upbeat novel. Though Craig was elated when he passed the entry exam for Manhattan's highly competitive Executive Pre-Professional High School, during his first year there he grows increasingly overwhelmed. Matters aren't helped by his new habit of smoking pot and then tormenting himself by hanging out with his best friend, Aaron, and Aaron's girlfriend, Nia, on whom Craig has a longstanding crush. Unable to eat and seriously considering suicide, Craig checks himself into a psychiatric hospital. There, Craig finds his true calling as a visual artist, begins a promising romantic relationship with another patient, helps yet another patient get a place in an adult home, and arranges a thoughtful treat for his reclusive Egyptian roommate — all in a mere five days, a timeframe that readers struggling with their own issues may find somewhat daunting. Still, few would begrudge Craig his exhilarating recovery. The author clearly has not lost his knack for conveying the textures of teenage life. Ages 13-up." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"Craig's well-paced narrative, carefully and insightfully detailing his confusing slide and his desperate efforts to get well, is filled with humor and pathos." School Library Journal

Review:

"[W]hat's terrific about the book is Craig's voice — intimate, real, funny, ironic, and one kids will come closer to hear....This book offers hope in a package that readers will find enticing, and that's the gift it offers." Booklist

Review:

"Ned Vizzini's newest novel is peppered with drinking, drugs, and sex, as well as familiar subjects that today's teens are faced with on a regular basis." Children's Literature

Review:

"For the readers who stick with him until the end, the results will resonate with them just as loudly as Craig's newfound credo: to live for real." Kirkus Reviews

Synopsis:

The author of "Be More Chill" takes a poignant look at teenage depression in this remarkably moving and authentic picture of the physicality, the despair, and even the hilarity of depression. Hyperion Books for Children/Miramax Books
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About the Author

Ned Vizzini's own experience in a psychiatric hospital inspired him to write this story. He is also the author of Be More Chill and Teen Angst? Naah...
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
agiannotti24, May 1, 2008 (view all comments by agiannotti24)
goooooooooooooooooooooood:D
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in_reverie, July 11, 2007 (view all comments by in_reverie)
This was a really good read, but I don't think it was amazing or anything. I think it's rather, well, stupid that the main character didn't attempt suicide. It's cool that he checked himself into a hospital and tried to get help. But I think if you really want to convince someone that you're truly suicidal that you maybe should actually attempt it. Not very many kids are going to be depressed and feel like dying and be like, "oh, hey. I'm too much of a pansy to really do it, so I'm gonna call some helpline even though I really don't need help. it's all in my head."
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SPUNK.Mireya, May 2, 2007 (view all comments by SPUNK.Mireya)
This book is truly one of my all-time favorite books. And the funny thing is, I barely finished it yesterday. It opens your eyes to how high schoolers really think. Ned gets inside a fifteen yeard old over-achiever's head and makes it funny, insightful, and entertaining (Can we say Page-Turner?). It's extremely authentic. I would definitley recommend this novel to any of my friend. It's definitely a Must-Have in your personal library.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780786851966
Author:
Vizzini, Ned
Publisher:
Miramax Books
Author:
Vizzini, Ned
Subject:
General
Subject:
Mental Illness
Subject:
Depression, mental
Subject:
General Juvenile Fiction
Publication Date:
March 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
444
Dimensions:
806x588x134 118
Age Level:
13-17
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