Addie's OCD rituals are so severe her mom seeks out intensive treatment at an inpatient psych ward. "I understand now why my mother was looking for more help . . . but at the time I thought she was overreacting," Addie notes in typical droll fashion as she launches her story of life on the inside. The witty literary sophisticate narrates a poignant, at times tragic, tale of the emotional pain some kids endure, none more so than eventual soul mate Fitz. Suffering from schizophrenia, and from guilt over his brother's death, Fitz touches Addie's heart as he asks for her help with an escape plan. Their breakout adventure revs up the pace, with the daunting plunge into the outside forcing both teens to grapple with their afflictions in a different setting. Savvy readers will be intrigued with Addie's Holden Caulfield esque persona and use of absurdist drama to figure out her own life. But all readers will respond to Hyde's fully authentic characters and compassionate portrayal of kids in pain.

After years of barely managing, Addie winds up in a juvenile psychiatric ward for help with her severe OCD. There she meets Fitz, a handsome boy whose diagnosis is schizophrenia and whose cryptic utterances intrigue Addie, an aspiring playwright. Addie's witty voice and her burgeoning friendship with Fitz help offset the novel's sober themes.

While seeking treatment for mental illness in a psychiatric ward, a teen contemplates the meaning of life.When her obsessive-compulsive disorder rituals become severe, 17-year-old Addie Foster must defer her senior year of high school to enter Seattle Regional Hospital's psychiatric ward as an inpatient. Although her first-person account describes how her OCD manifests and some of her treatment plan, the focus is on her relationship with fellow patient Fitz, who suffers auditory hallucinations. An aspiring playwright, Addie becomes consumed with a homework assignment that questions Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Issues with Fitz and the play converge as the two find fun with puns and other wordplay and notice how people are always acting and wearing masks, both on- and offstage. The story escalates when Fitz asks Addie to help him escape the hospital and find closure to a painful secret. In the process of connecting with Fitz, Addie not only begins to understand the waiting in Beckett's play, but also life itself. This complex story of merging metaphors and symbolism is for sophisticated readers who prefer reflection to adventure. Debut novelist Hyde offsets the painful realities of mental illness with gentle surprises and such humor as Fitz's naming his hallucinations after popular country singers. One patient is Mexican-American; the default for all other characters is white.Thoughtful and thought-provoking. (Fiction. 13-18)