Crazy, is a novel by Han Nolan and is about a boy named Jason who is trying to take care of his crazy father, while also trying to stay ‘invisible’ to the world.
Jason Papadopoulos is a 15 year old boy who talks to imaginary voices that are in his head. The imaginary friends/voices are the audience in his head that follows him around like he’s the star of a movie. There is Aunt Bee, Crazy Glue, Sexy Lady, and FBG (fat bald guy) with a mustache. He knows they aren’t real, but for years they are the only friends that he has. He doesn’t want to be noticed by the real world, in fear that people will find out about his dad, who is mentally ill, and take him away. Jason cares for his father because he is the only family he’s got. On top of the burden of taking care of his crazy father, he also carries the guilt of his mother’s death.
Later on in the story, Jason’s English teacher has noticed some odd behavior and defiance in his classes and decides that he’s having a hard time coping with his mother’s death. So, she sets him up to go to the school’s shrink, Dr. Gomez, at lunch on Thursdays. He reluctantly goes and meets three other students who have just as much trouble with their families as he does. There is Shelby Majors who is also a sophomore and her mother is dying of ASL; Haze Horton who is a junior and his parents are going through a rough divorce; and Pete Funkle who is also a junior and his dad is doing drugs.
Jason eventually feels really comfortable with these three kids and he soon finds himself referring to them as his friends, something he hasn’t had in a long time. He suddenly starts to tell them about how crazy his father really is and reveals secrets he hasn’t wanted anyone to know. Then, when something slips and gets out into the open, Jason’s father is taken away and Jason is put into foster care. Jason then slips away from his friends and doesn’t want anything to do with them. Now Jason is starting to realize that maybe having friends isn’t such a bad thing and it’s what he actually needs.
Crazy is a book that will really make people feel for the characters. Jason is strong and independent and the reader will come to love him. They will also admire his courage and determination to hold his life together while under disastrous situation that’s trying to tear him apart bit by bit. There are points in the book that will make the reader really sad and then one of the characters will say something and then the reader will burst out into laughter. The book really plays with people’s emotions and gives something a lot of people can relate to in some kind of way.
The book was a fast read and it was very easy to get through. The words aren’t complicated to read and it’s very easy to understand. Most books take such a long time to finish reading for most people, but as soon as you start reading Crazy there’s no stopping or looking back. This book is enlightening and it lets people see the world from someone else’s point of view, which expands the minds of others.
The characters are realistic and relatable. Nolan was very descriptive when describing the characters and people can easily visualize them and immediately understand what kind of person they are and how they would act. If the reader is not supposed to like a certain character Nolan gives them this effect that makes the reader not like them. When something bad happens and one of the characters gets sad or upset, the reader can’t help but feel what they feel. When the characters gets mad, the reader gets mad; when the characters get sad, the reader gets sad; etc.
What was very good about the book was that whenever one of the voices in Jason’s head talks they make it like a script so it’s easier to see who’s talking. It comes in handy a lot when the voices interrupt another character that is talking and then the voice starts talking. It makes it a lot more organized and easy to understand and read.
The book was interesting to read through the eyes of someone who was sort of crazy. We never would think about certain things the way others might see them. In this book it shows that. It was also interesting to see a kid in a situation that people wouldn’t see everyday and how they might handle it, as Jason was put in a lot of situations that people wouldn’t normally see or have been through.
What wasn’t so great about the book was that the voices in Jason’s head can be annoying and obnoxious at times, especially when they cut someone else off who’s talking. It’s like you just want go into the book and tell them to stop talking and let the scene actually carry on.
The book also could have been a bit longer because it would have been better if they continued it so the reader could see what happened after everything else.
All in all the book was good and is for anyone to read as it will be enjoyed by all ages and genders. To learn a little bit more about the book or the author visit Han Nolan’s website, hannolan.com It’s a book that will get anyone that reads the first page of it hooked because it’s unique compared to every other day books.
