THE LOWDOWN:
Fourteen-year-old Cameron understands that he has to take pills to stop hearing the voices in his head. But he likes the voices, especially the one he calls The Girl, a gentle, encouraging persona who wants to be his girlfriend. After he has a public breakdown, his parents make him take the pills anyway.
Distraught and furious at the loss of his girlfriend, Cameron turns to his friend Nina, who struggles with clinical depression. Like Cameron, Nina hates the numbing effects of her meds, and together they make a pact to stop taking the pills altogether. Though initially they feel triumphant—they’re regaining control over their lives and making their own decisions—soon Cameron’s untreated mind throws him into dangerous situations, and he becomes increasingly torn between the real world (with the real girl) and the one in his mind.
A clinical psychologist, Edward Averett weaves a complex story of a loving family dealing with schizophreniform disorder and the young man at the center of it all, desperately trying to find his way into adulthood.
FIRST IMPRESSION:
I’ve just walked the half mile down our driveway, and now I’m standing by the mailbox at our bus stop talking to myself. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, except that my sister, Beth, is standing with me.
“Stop doing that,” she says.
“Stop doing what?”
“You know,” she says. But I can tell she’s mad about something else.
—Paperback ARC edition
SNAPSHOT:
The quietly riotous life of teenage Cameron jumps to life in this tale. Frustrated and feeling like he doesn’t even control his own life let alone his own brain, Cameron is easy to relate to, even as he deals with difficult situations and mental disorders that the average reader might never encounter. His real-life friend, Nina, stood out as an interesting, unique, and pained young woman. Cameron’s friendship with his sister was another plus.
Appropriate for ages 13+. Mild language, some intense situations, light sexual situations. No illegal drugs or alcohol. Insightfully deals with mental health, teen’s rights, depression, suicide, first love, and the search for identity and autonomy.
Readers would benefit from further discussion on their beliefs and understanding of medication and recovery through therapy. Others may wish to open conversation on how to reach out to a hurting friend, or how Cameron’s choices changed throughout the novel.
GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
– Enjoy the crazy ones
– Want your romance soft and understated
– Need a heartbreaking but hopeful story
– Are curious about teens living with mental disorders
– Have or know someone with a difficult-to-discuss diagnosis
THE ESSENTIALS:
Contemporary YA drama
Hardcover & Ebook, 240 pages
Published April 16th, 2013 by Clarion Books (ISBN 054761215X)
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/hmh/site/hmhbooks/bookdetails?isbn=9780547612157
(Advanced reading copy provided by Jennifer Groves at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.)