In Sight of Stars

January 15, 2018
A teen's road to mental wellness begins when he wakes up in a mental health facility following a break.Why is 17-year-old Klee Alden (pronounced "clay," like the painter) facing two weeks at the Adolescent Inpatient Center at Northhollow? Klee feels guilty about his father's suicide. His sense of inadequacy is heartbreaking: if Klee had tried harder, maybe his father would still be here. His father suffered from undiagnosed depression. Is Klee, whose own illness isn't clearly defined, doomed to follow in his footsteps? The main narrative takes place over the course of Klee's two-week stay at the AIPCN--or the Ape Can, as its young patients fondly call it. Flashbacks, disjointed at first, become more coherent as Klee begins the healing process and relays events leading up to the present. Klee's recovery includes a lot of sleep, daily therapy, and board games and nightly swims with a wisecracking nun whom the white teen describes as a "dwarf." A sarcastic, hallucinatory crow symbolizes the lying nature of depression. The text doesn't treat mental illness as a personality flaw, nor as an easy thing to cure, but some may find it troubling that Klee's doctor (who is Latina) doesn't reject his use of "crazy" to describe his mental state. Most characters are assumed white; one of the other patients is an Asian girl who plays the violin, and another doctor is South Asian.An unapologetic and wry story about a teen finding his way out of a personal crisis. (Fiction. 15-18)

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February 1, 2018

Gr 10 Up-The year following his dad's suicide has been the hardest of Klee's life. His mom, whom Klee refers to as the "Ice Queen" has moved them from Manhattan to the suburbs where Klee is forced to spend his senior year without his friends, away from the art galleries and museums he used to frequent with his dad. In sleepy Northollow, the only thing Klee has going for him is his girlfriend Sarah, who is beautiful and reckless. When Klee realizes he may soon lose Sarah too, he reacts impulsively and lands himself in a psychiatric hospital. Through Klee's therapy sessions over the course of the next two weeks, readers learn about his family history, his anger at his mother, and the downfall of his relationship with Sarah. With help from a cast of characters that includes a fantastic therapist, other teenagers with mental health issues, and a nun with dwarfism, Klee begins to dig himself out of the darkness and find ways to move forward. In the vein of Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story, Polisner's short novel destigmatizes mental illness, emphasizing that everyone needs a little help sometimes. Readers will laugh, cry, and ache alongside Klee as they follow his recovery. Strong language, brief scenes of graphic violence, and descriptive sexual situations make this a better fit for older teens. VERDICT In a sea of recent contemporary novels about teens with mental illnesses, this one stands out for its strong writing, likable protagonist, and overwhelmingly positive messages.-Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2018
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* Klee's life has imploded. First there was his dad's suicide, followed by the abrupt move to another community. Now, just when things are beginning to look up and he's infatuated with new girlfriend Sarah, she backs away and he finds her with another guy. Stunned and reeling, Klee harms himself and lands in a psychiatric hospital, where most of the story takes place. Polisner (The Memory of Things, 2016) captures the chaos and fog in Klee's brain as he tries to grab hold of his life. The result is a raw, enthralling rendering of pain that overwhelms a teen. Through therapy and medication, through wry encounters with others in the unit, including memorable staff volunteer Sister Agnes Teresa, and through frequent flashbacks that put his life in context, readers come to understand and cheer for Klee. His dad was an artist who gave up art for a more lucrative corporate career, and the two shared a marvelously close relationship and a love for Van Gogh. Klee hoped for an art career and still does. Blaming his mother for Dad's suicide compounds his pain and anger, until startling family secrets are revealed and Klee is able to let go of much of his anger. An intense, sometimes graphic, totally heartbreaking portrait of a character who will keep pages turning.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)