Fifteen-year-old Jason has fallen upon bad times - his 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 father's 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.
This book reminded me a lot of The God Box. It grappled with a complex, serious issue in what I thought was a very compassionate and fair way, but ultimately everything surrounding it fell flat for me. The characters were cardboard cutouts, everything was very superficial, and the ending was too good to be true. I think that it has its place - younger readers who don't know much about mental illness might really find some insight in this book. For me, though, it just didn't go far enough.
