Hornbook 4-1-06

Ned Vizzini It's Kind of a Funny Story 445 pp. Hyperion/Miramax. /06 ISBN 0-7868-5196-1 $16.95
Vizzini's first YA novel, Be More Chill (rev. 9/04), was a comic description of a teen's struggle with peer pressure; this second novel portrays a fifteen-year-old's struggle with depression. Despite the serious topic, Vizzini again manages to be quite funny: narrator Craig may have lost his footing, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor. This novel also turns out to be about the pressures students face -- by the end of his stay in a psychiatric hospital, Craig realizes that the stress of trying to be successful and perfect is what has pushed him over the edge. It's refreshing to have a protagonist who is clinically depressed yet loved by his family and untouched by huge trauma; but therein lies Craig's biggest roadblock -- without an obvious scarring experience on which to blame his emotional state, guilt exacerbates his depression. While the setup that lands Craig on an adult rather than a teen ward seems artificial, the presence of older (sometimes crazier, sometimes wiser) characters is worth it, and the bulk of this novel (which is based in part on Vizzini's own experience) remains believable. Craig's overwhelmingly positive hospital experience will hearten readers moved by his honest description of his inner despair. J.M.B.