Book Cover Photo Source, Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Inside-Out/Terry-Trueman/e/9780064473767/?itm=6&USRI=inside+0ut, accessed October 10, 2009.Bibliography:
Trueman, Terry. 2003. INSIDE OUT. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books.
ISBN 9780066239637
Critical Ananlysis:
This story begins with Zach, a 16 year-old schizophrenic, sitting in a coffee shop waiting for his mother to bring him his medication. When two teenage boys attempt to rob the shop, Zach is one of seven people held against their will. All of the other people in the coffee shop start to panic. Zach does not. Because of his illness, Zach has a hard time differentiating between what is real and what is imagined. He has two imaginary "psychokiller enemies," Dirtbag and Rat, who murmur evil thoughts in his head when he doesn't take his medication. It is the voices whom he truely fears. "Hey, Wasteoid, time to die," Dirtbag whispers. Rat laughs and screams, "Yeah, time to die, Wasteoid!" Compared to the voices, the two robbers do not seem threatening at all and when the situation escalates, Zach finds himself volunteering to become their hostage. When this happens, we start to find out more about the desperate situation the brothers are in. Their mother has cancer and little money to pay for care, and the boys see the robbery as a way to help her. The gun they have has no bullets and as the story progresses we see them as basically good kids who have gotten in way over their heads. An unusual bond begins to form between Zach and the brothers, and when one of them is wounded by a stray police bullet, it is Zach who aids in ending the standoff. Ultimately the boys surrender and Zach is reunited with his mother and given his much needed medication. Narrated by Zach, the reader gets a sense of the bewilderment and silent struggle which take place in the schizophrenic mind on a daily basis. The book is disturbing, especially the ending, but it is riveting nontheless. Young adults will without doubt come away from this read with a stronger appreciation for those who battle mental illness.
Review Excerpts:
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "While a 16-year-old battling schizophrenia waits in a coffee shop for his mother to arrive with his medication, two boys attempt to rob the cafe and take hostages. PW called this "a vivid story of three desperate teens that recalls Robert Cormier, with its dark, disturbing theme and narrative shifts in rapid-fire succession." Ages 14-up.
VOYA: "Sixteen-year-old Zach suffers from schizophrenia. He hears two voices in his head, Dirtbag and Rat, whenever he needs to take his medicine. Those voices tell him to kill himself. If this condition was not enough to live with, Zach now finds himself in the middle of a holdup at the coffee shop after school. The two robbers are around Zach's age, and Zach tries to talk to them through the veil of his disease. Although his doing so tries the patience of the robbers and confuses the police outside, Zach is able in his own way to help work things out for everyone, except possibly for himself. Trueman is a master of point of view, as shown in his award-winning novel Stuck in Neutral (HarperCollins, 2000/VOYA December 2000). His research into the disease really helps make Zach's warped thought patterns believable to the reader. Every reader will have sympathy and new understanding of this devastating illness."
Classroom Connections/Discussion Questions:
1. Before reading this book, what did you know about schizophrenia? Was the portrayal of this diasese different that what you thought it would be?2. Was the plot of the story plausible to you?
3. If the boys mom hadn't been sick, how would the story have been different?
4. How are the two brothers and Zach the same? How are they different?
5. Why do you think that Zach is so afraid of Rat and Dirtbag, but not of Joey and Alan.
6. Why do you think the author included exerpts of the letters between Dr. Curtis and Zach's mom in the story?
7. What do you knoe about suicide? How have your feelings changed after reading this book?
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