Fifteen-year-old Jason has fallen upon bad timeshis mother has died and his father has succumbed to mental illness. As he tries to hold his crazy father and their crumbling home together, Jason relies on a host of imaginary friends for guidance as he stumbles along trying not to draw attention to his fathers deteriorating condition.
Both heartbreaking and funny, CRAZY lives up to the intense and compelling characters Han Nolan is praised for. As Jason himself teeters on the edge of insanity, Nolan uncovers the clever coping system he develops for himself and throws him a lifeline in the guise of friendship."Nolan leavens this haunting but hopeful story with spot-on humor and a well developed cast of characters, and she shows with moving clarity the emotional costs of mental illness, especially on teens forced to parent their own parents."Booklist, starred review
"In this distinct and effective blend of sorrow and humor, Jason, once invisible to his classmates and used to the chaos at home, suffers the effects of change when he's enrolled in a lunch-hour group therapy with other wayward teens and his father is taken away...he slowly learns, with the help of his new friends and foster parents, normalcy and how to care for himself first."Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Nolan balances weighty subject matter with humor, offering an intelligent portrayal of a boy's slow release of burdens too heavy to carry alone."Publishers Weekly Chapter One Ever since the fifth grade, Ive had this imaginary audience in my head who follow me around and watch me like Im the star in a movie. I talk to them, and yeah, they talk to me, but I know they arent really there. Im very clear about that. Anyway, I dont think Im the only fifteen-year-old who does this. Its our culture. It seems everybody is famous now. You can get yourself on TV for doing almost anything, the stupider the better. Everyone thinks his or her life is movie worthy. So now youre here. This is my honors English class were in right now. Dont ask me how I got into honors. Okay, I know this classroom is pretty drab. There arent nearly enough windows, but its an old school. Theyre building a new one over on Clement. I havent named you yet. Ill just call you You for now. Maybe youll just be part of my laugh track, a body filling one of the seats in my theater but having no singular voice. Well see. If you are part of the laugh track, you get to do more than laugh. You get to say, "Uh-oh," and whisper loudly, "Isnt that a shame." You can even cry. But maybe youll become one of the outspoken ones, the ones with a personality, like the fat bald guy with a mustache who sits in the back of the theater writing movie reviews. I call him FBG with a mustache, for short. Theres also Sexy Lady, whos supposed to just tell me Im hot all the time. She usually has on a low-cut red dress. Then theres Aunt Beeyep, the Aunt Bee from the old Andy Griffith Show. You always wondered what happened to her. Well, here she is, in my head! Shes very sympathetic. And finally, theres the kid who Krazy Glued the fingers of his left hand together. I just call him Crazy Glue. CRAZY GLUE:Boring! His life is boring. Get out now while you can. SEXY LADY:Oh, but lately its been heating up again. He was just in a lull. Yeah, a nice, safe four-year lull. I dont like this new exposure Ive been getting. I liked being invisible. AUNT BEE:Thats most understandable, poor boy. Youve had it very rough in the past. I remember the time your father woke you up in the middle of the night. He had on that horrible mask. FBG WITH A MUSTACHE:It wasnt a mask, my dear. It was a helmet, a Spartan helmet. It was a replica, not the real thing, made of steel with a mane running over the top and down the back of it. Quite authentic-looking, though. It had real horse hair. AUNT BEE:Well, it covered most of his face, and he was frightening coming into Jasons room like that, then scooping him up and taking him outside to bury him. He dropped him right down into that hole hed dug and started shoveling the dirt on top of him. Oh dear, that was so horrifying. CRAZY GLUE (ACTING AS JASON):"Daddy, stop it! Im scared. I dont like it down here. Its cold. I want Mommy. I want Mommy!" FBG WITH A MUSTACHE (ACTING AS DAD):"Its okay. Just stay there, Jason. Im covering you over so theyll never find you." CRAZY GLUE:You should have given my lines to Sexy Lady or Aunt Bee. Why should I always get stuck being you? Youre the closest to my age and I was going for a little realism. AUNT BEE:Its too real. I wish youd stop reliving that night over and over. It cant be good for you. I was only six. I screamed and screamed. I was scared out of my wits. Dad thought the Furies were after us. Mom said he was just trying to protect me. Thats all. CRAZY GLUE:It figures I missed all the good stuff. And what are Furies, anyway? FBG WITH A MUSTACHE:Theyre part of Greek and Roman mythology. Theyre the goddesses of the underworld. Youd love them. They have a mass of snakes for hair and blood running from their eyes. They come up through the ground, seeking revenge for peoples crimes. Theyll hunt you down until youre driven mad with their chase. CRAZY GLUE:Awesome! I didnt think so. The Furies always scared me. They still do. Anyway, my mom heard my screams and she saved me before I was buried alive, but Dad was taken away. He stayed away a long time. That was my fault. Ive always felt it was my fault. AUNT BEE:Well, dear boy, you couldnt let him bury you alive, could you? SEXY LADY:I think youd look hot in that helmet. I hate that helmet. Any time I see Dad wearing it, I know hes sick againlike now. CRAZY GLUE:I would have loved to have seen you scratching and scrambling and clawing your way out of that grave. Cool beans! Shows what you know. AUNT BEE:Its no wonder, then, what happened in fifth grade. I mean, how you reacted. LAUGH TRACK:Uh-oh! Here it comes. My best friend turned on me! Just because I got the ball away from him and scored the only points in the soccer game, he got all jealous and got the gang to help him flush my head in the toilet. LAUGH TRACK:(Laughter). CRAZY GLUE:A swirlie! Jason got a swirlie! Cried like a baby, too. Called for his mommy. Made a total fool of himself. AUNT BEE:Of course he cried, and you would, too. It was his father burying him all over again. CRAZY GLUE:No friends after thatjust us. Four and a half years now, and still not a single friend. I dont need friends. Friends are dangerous. FBG WITH A MUSTACHE:What was it you and your soccer buddies called yourselves? Fili Mou. Its Greek for "my friends." FBG WITH A MUSTACHE:Thats right, but you spelled it "F-E-E-L-Y M-O-O." You were the Feely Moos. Dont remind me. The whole school picked on me after that swirlie. Im sorry my grandma died back then, but I sure was glad she left my parents her house and we moved to Virginia at the end of the year. I got to start all over. CRAZY GLUE:Start all over? You went into hiding! Bor-ring! SEXY LADY:But now, after all these years of trying to make yourself invisible, youve been caught. Youre beginning to come out into the open again. I see how the girls are starting to take notice of you with your dark curly locks and those blue, blue eyes. Tall, dark, and handsome, thats how we like em. Youre like a young Greek god. Im not coming out in the opennot on purpose, anyway. It was just a slip-up, just a few things getting out of control, but Ill fix it. Ill straighten everything out. CRAZY GLUE:Fat chance. Anyway, youre more interesting this way. SEXY LADY:Youve got that innocent, wouldnt-hurt-a-fly look about you. Girls feel safe around you. Youre way too thin, but with a little meat on your bones . . . Oh, to be a sophomore in high school again. Okay, be quiet, everyone. Mrs. Silkys talking to me. "Jason, would you stay a minute after the bell, please." "Woo-ooh, Ja-son!" Great, the whole class thinks Im a dweeb now. CRAZY GLUE:Yeah, like they didnt already. LAUGH TRACK:Uh-oh! (A twitter of laughter). You, you might as well sit down and watch the show. Later you can decide what kind of audience member youd like to be. AUNT BEE:I hate when you get yourself in trouble. CRAZY GLUE:Old Silkys going to give it to you now. SEXY LADY:Come on over here, You, and sit next to me. Make yourself comfortable. Dont worry if youre a little confused. Jason will explain everything. He narrates his life as he goes along. CRAZY GLUE:Yeah, he does it for the visually impaired in the audience. FBG WITH A MUSTACHE:Thats not it at all. Jason likes to keep his mind busy because hes afraid of mental silences. Disturbing thoughts lurk just beneath the surface and he knows it. Keep up the mental chatter, my boy. Everyone has disturbing thoughts. Its normal. Its perfectly normal. CRAZY GLUE:Sure it is, pal.