Crazy – Org

Crazy A Novel | Crazy book cover

Eerdmans/October 2014
Young Adult novel-in-verse
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5437-7

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Laura is a typical fifteen-year-old growing up in the 1960s, navigating her way through classes, friendships, and even a new romance. But she’s carrying around a secret: her mother is suffering from a mental illness.No one in Laura’s family will talk about her mother’s past hospitalizations or increasingly erratic behavior, and Laura is confused and frightened. Laura finds some solace in art, but when her mother, also an artist, suffers a breakdown, Laura fears that she will follow in her mother’s footsteps. Left without a refuge, can she find the courage to face what scares her most?

Eloquent and compelling, this powerful novel-in-verse tackles complex themes in a way that will have readers rooting for Laura to find the courage to get the answers she needs.

Discussion Guide and Videos

Awards and Recognitions

  • Junior Library Guild Selection 2014
  • New York Public Library Best Book for Teens 2014
  • YALSA BFYA nomination 2015
  • Madeline Kuderick’s Top Ten Books That Explore Mental Health Issues 2015
  • Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2015
  • Bank Street College of Education, Best Children’s Books of the Year 2015
  • Short listed for Southeast Regional Crystal Kite Award 2015
  • Honor Book, Paterson Prize for Books for Young People 2015
  • IndieFab Book of the Year Finalist YA category 2015
  • 100 Must-Read YA Books in Verse (BookRiot)

Radio and Blog Interviews

Reviews


“Combining poetic form with a compelling narrative, CRAZY achieves a story of truth and authenticity, and, often, beauty.”

~Patti Gauch, former vice president and editor-at-large of Philomel Books.


“CRAZY is an absorbing, tender and often heartbreaking look at the toll mental illness takes on one family in the 1960s. The best books will leave you better and more compassionate for reading them and this is one of them. I loved it!”

~Karen Harrington, Author of SURE SIGNS OF CRAZY and COURAGE FOR BEGINNERS


“[T]he gorgeous and powerful language and verse structure moved me… Such a rich reading experience!”

~Louise Galveston, Author of BY THE GRACE OF TODD


“It should be in the hands of anyone – teen and adult – who has ever felt powerless at the hands of mental illness.”

~Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, School Library Journal.


“… a compelling and completely believable story of a young girl’s fight against terrible unknowns in her life.”
~Rosi Hollinbeck for the San Francisco Book Review


“Phillips’ accessibly written chronicle will resonate with teens who understand the desire to protect themselves from their families’ inner truths.”

~Booklist


“CRAZY is worth a read for the text’s vivid link between emotions and fine art.”

~Kirkus


“Laura’s story is one that will resonate widely with contemporary readers as they seek avenues of support through their own struggles to remain sensitive to mothers who sometimes disappear, and almost always to some degree disappoint.”

~Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books