Age: High School
Tough Issue: Mental illness
First lines: "There are two things you know. One: You were there. Two: You couldn't have been there.

Caden Bosch's average high school life is slowly diminishing as an emerging mental illness takes hold. Having relatives affected by schizophrenia, Shusterman has a delicate touch with this subject, being careful not to overgeneralize. For example, Caden's illness is never given a name but one character mentions bi-polar schizoaffective disorder that shares similar symptoms. Not exactly a light read, I would recommend this to teens that like books that need to be pieced together, where the major plot point--Caden's evolving mental illness--slowly blends two separate settings and plots, gradually revealing the similarities between the two. The concept is daring but well executed.