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SUMMARY: Victor hates his life. He’s relentlessly bullied at school and his parents constantly ridicule him at home. Bull is angry. He’s sick of his grandfather’s drunken beatings. And he likes to take out his rage on Victor. Determined to end it all, Victor takes a bottle of his mother’s sleeping pills—only to be disappointed when he wakes up in the psych ward. And his roommate? None other than Bull, whose loaded-gun effort at self-defense has been labeled as a suicide attempt. (from the book description)
OPINION: An acquantance of mine was involuntarily committed in high school, and I remember him remarking after he was released that the only people who really understood him were in the hospital. At the time, I thought that was really weird, and slightly offensive to the rest of the people in his life! However, this book provided a glimpse into the minds and experiences of mentally ill teens that helped me gain some empathy for him many years after the fact. Although I found it awfully convenient that both boys were substantially helped by meeting girls in therapy, I still have to say that this is a powerful and moving story. It had me on the verge of tears several times! This book is definitely a high school read, and excellent for fans of very realistic fiction by authors like Ellen Hopkins.
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