By: Ned Vizzini
Genre: Teen Fiction
Stars: 3 out of 5
Craig Gilner is in high school and already constantly thinks
about his future. He studied vigorously to get into Manhattan’s Executive
Pre-Professional High School which will put him in the right direction for his
future. But at his new school he comes to the realization that he isn’t that
bright compared to everyone else and he might not have the future he mapped out
for himself. Craig becomes stressed with this new understanding and develops
depression. Overwhelmed, Craig almost tries to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and
he gets checked into a mental hospital. There, Craig meets an assortment of
people who help him come to terms with his anxiety and finds an outlet to
de-stress.
One of my golden rules is always read the book before you
watch the movie. Most of the time I stick very well to this rule, refusing to
see the movie at all unless I have read the book. Other times I break my own
rule, which is what I did with this book. My sister – the influencer she is –
picked this movie to watch “On Demand” one night and I sat down to watch it
with her. We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I decided to read the book;
I bought it on my nook the next day. Of course it was different than the movie
but the movie did stay true to the book as much as a movie can. I will admit
that watching the movie first spoiled the book for me though. I couldn’t get
the sequence of events or images of what the characters cast in the movie
looked like out of my head. Because of this, the book just wasn’t as great as
the movie was. But the concept was great and I liked the teen angst I was made
to feel. High school is tough and for this boy it just couldn’t get any
tougher. It’s a great coming of age story and perfect for teen’s to catch a
glimpse of depression. I think teens should definitely read this book and if
high schools aren’t teaching this book yet, they unquestionably should.
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