insideout

__Inside Out__ by Terry Trueman ISBN: 0-06-623962-1 c2003 117 pages

Good sections to read aloud: --any part of chapter one where Zach is in the coffee shop and the two boys come in with guns demanding money....Zach cannot control his thoughts and continues to blurt out and confuse the boys

Summary: Zach Wahhsted, a 16 year old schizophrenic, waits for his mother in a coffee shop after school every day. The book starts out with Zach in the coffee shop when two young boys come in demanding money. The scene turns ugly when the cops arrive, and the two boys force all of the customers, including Zach, into the back room of the coffee shop. Zach needs his medicine badly and cannot control the thoughts running through his mind, so he continually blurts them out. The two boys are getting frustrated with him, as well as the other hostages. All Zach really wants is his medicine and to help the others out, but will his illness make things worse than they already are?

YA Fiction--teen issues; schizophrenia; mentally ill; juvenile delinquency; suicide; hostages; guns

©Jennifer Lang - WDMS - 2004