Since his mother's recent death, his mentally ill father, who tried to bury him alive at age six, has donned a homemade Spartan helmet as protection from mythological Furies, leaving 15-year-old Jason Papadopoulos feeling like he's living a Greek tragedy. Since his mother's recent death, his mentally ill father, who tried to bury him alive at age six, has donned a homemade Spartan helmet as protection from mythological Furies, leaving 15-year-old Jason Papadopoulos feeling like he's living a Greek tragedy. And the chorus consists of a cast of characters in his mind--a fat, balding movie critic, a kid who once Krazy Glued his fingers together, Sexy Lady (who always finds Jason hot), Aunt Bee from <em>The Andy Griffith Show</em> and his own laugh track--whose commentary punctuates his first-person narration throughout. In this distinct and effective blend of sorrow and humor, Jason, once invisible to his classmates and used to the chaos at home, suffers the effects of change when he's enrolled in a lunch-hour group therapy with other wayward teens and his father is taken away. Wracked with guilt (why couldn't he fix his parents?), grief (why did they abandon him?) and fear (do the voices in his head make him crazy too?), he slowly learns, with the help of his new friends and foster parents, normalcy and how to care for himself first. <em>(Fiction. 12 & up)</em>

Ever since the fifth grade, I've had this imaginary audience in my head who follow me around and watch me like I'm the star in a movie, explains 15-year-old Jason, who narrates this intense novel from National Book Award Medalist Nolan (Dancing on the Edge). But imagined friends can't help Jason with the problem he inherited after his mother's death: taking care of a mentally ill father, whose condition is worsening. Structured as a conversation between Jason and his outspoken internal chorus (which includes sympathetic Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffith Show, the antagonistic Crazy Glue, and even a laugh track), the novel draws readers inside the psyche of a troubled teenager to experience the chaos, panic, and isolation he feels each day. When his father disappears, Jason risks soliciting help from a group of newfound friends from school. Some readers may feel overwhelmed by the constant interruptions from Jason's internal voices, yet the cacophony underscores Jason's frustration and helplessness. Nolan balances weighty subject matter with humor, offering an intelligent portrayal of a boy's slow release of burdens too heavy to carry alone. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Sept.)

Gr 8 Up-At age six, Jason's mentally ill father tried to bury him alive. Now 15, Jason is left alone to care for the man. They live in squalor, and the teen is in constant fear for his father's (and his own) safety. When he begins to act erratically at school, he's sent to group therapy. There he meets three other kids with screwed-up families. Though he begins to trust and love them, he keeps his father's illness a secret. When the truth comes out, his father is hospitalized and Jason is sent to foster care. He discovers, guiltily, what it's like to be a little normal. The chemistry among members of the group calls to mind John Barnes's extraordinary Tales of the Madman Underground (Viking, 2009), and these characters sparkle. Nolan writes with her usual combination of ease and gravitas. The action moves briskly, especially in light of the serious mood. Jason's voice, on its own, is naturalteens will sympathize easily. Unfortunately, he also narrates via an annoying and superfluous cast of imaginary friends, including Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show . Instead of edgy, this device comes off as gimmicky and disrupts an otherwise intelligent, moving story. Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library

Fifteen-year-old Jason Papadopoulos's mother recently died; his father is mentally ill, and there's a Greek chorus of voices in Jason's own head (unlike his dad, Jason knows they're not real). Once Jason is befriended by three other "psycho kids" from group therapy at school, his mental chorus grows quieter. There's a hopeful ending to this heartbreaking but satisfyingly cathartic reversal-of-fortune story.

Starred Review Jason, 15, lives a precarious life with his mentally ill father, who thinks he is an Argonaut and wears ttinfoil ear guards as he prepares for imminent attack from the Furies. When Jason was 6, his father tried to bury him alive, and his nightmares of suffocation continue to haunt him. Now that his mother has died from a stroke, Jason struggles to care for his needy father alone and with few resources. To help him cope, he creates an imaginary audience that includes Crazy Glue, Sexy Lady, and sympathetic, nurturing Aunt Bee, of Mayberry fame. There's a laugh track, too, and Jason directly addresses the reader. In less-capable hands, these narrative experiments could have fallen flat, but Nolan skillfully uses the story's intriguing structure to maneuver the minefield that is Jason's life. As Jason finds support in group therapy, social services intervention, and a foster family, the voices in his head recede, and he becomes less fearful that he, too, is going crazy. Nolan leavens this haunting but hopeful story with spot-on humor and a well-developed cast of characters, and she shows with moving clarity the emotional costs of mental illness, especially on teens forced to parent their own parents.