So, interview questions are off to Loree Griffin Burns, David Mack and Nick Abadzis, all wonderful authors who I am so looking forward to writing about in the WBBT. I've also been having the most wonderful email exchange with Lisa Ann Sandell whose Song of the Sparrow is one of my favorite books of the year and one I wish everyone would read. Drama, romance and war - it's really a stellar novel.

I also wrote my review of Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story for my column next month. It's interesting but while I do agree with Eisha that Vizzini's book is about depression (the main character has suicidal thoughts, calls a hotline and is directed to go to the nearest hospital where he checks himself in), I think that Craig's journey would appeal to anyone, whether truly depressed or not, who has ever felt overwhelmed by family, friends or life in general. I actually resisted reading this book for a long time because I had no interest in reading another depressed teen story. (And there are so many out there - as Eisha points out it in her Foreward column on books on this subject: "But I still found it interesting to see how many novels published over the past year or so have depicted depressed teens.") But Ned has guest hosted at Bookslut and sent me a note about the book coming out in tpb and I had heard good things about it so I decided to give it a shot.

Right from the beginning, as Craig struggles to figure out what he needs to do to make the "shift" happen, so his brain can get back to normal - so his life can get back to normal - I found myself captivated with this kid. He was depressed, but he was also well enough to know that he wanted to be better. In other words, this isn't a book about a screwed up kid getting more and more and more screwed up (and being surrounded by other screwed up kids). This was about a normal well-adjusted kid with a very nice family who got in over his head in pursuit of the perfect (meaning acceptable) life and can't get off the train he is driving. He wants to be okay; he just doesn't know how.

To say that I could identify with Craig is an understatement.

A lot of reviewers have mentioned how funny the book is and they are right, but anyone who has ever spent time in a crazy family or at a crazy job with tell you there is a lot of humor to be found in pretty much any situation (aside from those truly horrific of course). We were stressed out beyond belief at the Company but had serious laughs everyday. The ones that shock me now are the jokes about the near crashes. When you can laugh about losing an engine on takeoff in a snowstorm then you really know about the joys of black humor. Vizzini's work reminded me of those days. He never strays from the seriousness of the situation but yeah, it is funny.

Here's the thing though - holiday dinners are also funny - but that doesn't make them any less painful. I think what Ned has done with this book is tap into the collective stress and bleakness that we all have over work or love or family and put them inside the life on one teenage boy. I read this book compulsively because I saw so much of myself in Craig - even though I've never been suicidal, or spent time in a psych ward, or attended a very competitive school (perish the thought!). But I was able to place my own experiences into Craig's - able to apply his thoughts and observations to my own memories - and so the book worked perfectly for me. I would guess that it would work for anyone (teen or adult) who has ever been in a stressful situation. It's not about a kid freaking out over school, it's about all of us freaking out over everything. Here's the bit that really hit home for me:

That's my school. I worked harder to get in than I did for anything else, ever. I went there because, coming out of it, I'd be able to be President. Or a lawyer. Rich, that's the point. Rich and successful.

And look where it got me. One stupid year - not even one, like three quarters of one - and here I am with not one, but two bracelets on my wrist, next to a shrink in a room adjacent to a hall where there's a guy named Human Being walking around. If I keep doing this for three more years, where will I be? I'll be a complete loser. And what if I keep on? What if I do okay, live with the depression, get into College, do College, go to Grad School, get the Job, get the Money, get Kids and a Wife and a Nice Car? What kind of crap will I be in then? I'll be completely crazy.

I know people like that - I've been people like that. It's Kind of a Funny Story tells what it like to be the person trying so hard to hold it together for reasons you don't even fully understand. It's a book that tries to remind readers about living your life which is such a simple lesson but one we all lose track of, over and over again. It's a great read and one I'm very happy to recommend.