Customer Reviews

Inside Out

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a teacher with students who are reluctant or low-ability readers, I am always looking for "hot" books which appeal to high schoolers, especially males. This book has been a hit with both genders and readers at all ability levels. I loved it myself! The interesting part of the novel is the fact that the narrator is schizophrenic, so we see the plot events and people through his eyes. The humor and twist in perspective makes the crime plot more intriguing. The novel could also be used in a classroom which was studying the theme of teen justice since the "criminals" are teens with an overwhelming life crisis. Inside Out is a wonderful read just for pleasure for teens and adults alike, but I especially recommend it for those teens who "hate reading" and "have never read an entire book" in their lives. Multiple copies been checked out with a waiting list in my classroom.

Long gong...barrelcracker... barrel...barrel o'monkeys...wong-gong."

"Time...grime...pantomime...long-gone wong-gong is a wong-gone long gong..."

These words may seem strange and convoluted to you, but Zach Wahhsted hears them in his mind day in and day out. Zach has schizophrenia, which causes him to hear voices. He finds that if he takes all of his medication on time, the voices go away and he has fewer problems getting through the day.

All Zach wants is a maple bar as he waits at the local coffee shop for his mother to bring him his meds. But before she can deliver them, Zach finds himself a hostage in the middle of a holdup gone wrong. The longer he goes without his medication, the more difficult a time he has keeping in touch with reality.

Hours after he is supposed to receive his medication, Zach agrees to stay behind as a hostage while the boys he calls Frosty and Stormy let everyone else in the coffee shop go free as part of a deal with the police. Reality begins to slip away, and the voices in Zach's head grow louder as he tries to stay alive and get out of this mess.

Complex and chilling, Terry Trueman's picture of a schizophrenic's mind alternates between lucid and hallucinogenic. Often, the reader's feelings towards Zach are as confused as Zach's thoughts. Every word in this small book is powerful and gripping. Don't be surprised if you find yourself out of breath at the end.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft Webber

Terry Trueman has done it again! Inside Out is an amazingly intense read.

The main character, Zach is perfectly framed in a bad situation, a hold up, but nothing could be as bad as the battle Zach has going on in his mind. Zach suffers from schizophrenia and tries very hard to do what is perceived to be "appropriate" in our society.

Trueman manages to create a character in Zach that is unforgettable. This story MOVES so fast, it is over before you know it. I could not put this book down.

Trueman's ability to draw the reader in and make each character, major or minor, an important one is unparalleled.

This book is a wonderful mix of a fast-paced story with action, tense moments of anticipation, and characters that the reader can identify with immediately.

To top all of that off, Terry Trueman has alerted the public about the horrors of schizophrenia.

You have done it again Terry Trueman!

" 'Zach, you're a stupid wong-gong, a long-gone wong-gong.'
"I ignore this, but while I'm sitting here being quiet, my palms are sweaty and my throat is dry. I need to decide if this situation is real or not; I need to decide that right now. Sometimes I understand what's going on, and other times I don't have a clue. If I don't figure this one out, I could be in trouble."

According to the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression:

"Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe brain disorder which affects approximately 1 percent of the world population. Approximately 2 million people in the United States suffer from the disease in a given year. Schizophrenia is characterized by positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and markedly disorganized behavior. Negative symptoms include reduced emotional expression, social withdrawal, loss of pleasure, difficulty concentrating and/or thinking, and a lack of energy, spontaneity or initiative. Treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms and preventing psychotic relapses. Schizophrenia is usually treated with antipsychotic medication, and may be used in combination with psychosocial therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Many scientists believe that schizophrenia results from a chemical imbalance in the brain, and are investigating various neurotransmitters in determining this imbalance."

Sixteen-year-old Zach Wahhsted suffers from adolescent onset schizophrenia. He waits at the coffee shop after school each day; him mom picks him up there up at 3:30 and gives him his medication. It is imperative that he get his twice-daily medication on time so that Rat and Dirtbag--the worst of the voices in his head that have tortured him in the past--don't come back.

Today, Zach will not get his medication on time.

"All I want is a maple bar, but I don't think these kids with the guns care about what I want."

Today, as Zach waits for his mom's arrival, a pair of teenagers, "Frosty" and "Stormy," come in to rob the coffee shop and the situation disintergrates into an armed standoff with hostages.

"I look around at everybody else in this place, and they all look scared, so I'm trying to look scared too. I mean, I guess I'm scared, but this all seems so normal to me. The thing is, I'm used to seeing and hearing really weird stuff, so this doesn't feel that strange to me at all."

As a schizophrenic, Zach tends to react differently--some would say inappropriately.

"One of the kids with a gun, the older-looking one, says, 'Nobody's gonna get hurt if you just do what we tell you!'
"I say, 'Okay.'
"He seems surprised at the sound of my voice and looks at me real fast, then away again.
"He says, 'We don't wanna hurt anybody.'
" 'Good,' I say.
"He looks at me again, 'You gotta problem?' he asks. I think he sounds mad.
" 'Yes,' I say.
"This surprises him too. 'Oh, yeah?' he asks, then he points his gun right at me. 'What's your problem?'
"I'm sort of surprised that he wants to know.
"His gun is big and black, with a wide hole in the end of the barrel. It's like a tunnel.
"I answer him as truthfully as I can. 'I'm sick, that's my problem; I take medicine two times every day, thanks for asking.' "

"The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane

You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me"
--Pink Floyd

INSIDE OUT is a tense and often comic tale that plays out inside the back room of the coffee shop and inside Zach Wahhsted's head as 3:30 comes and goes...

"I wonder if Frosty and Stormy are going to shoot me. Like in that movie Pulp Fiction. The bad guys shoot lots of people in that movie. I'm definitely NOT going to ask them about Pulp Fiction or about shooting us. I don't want to give them any bad ideas.
"I don't even want to think about getting shot, and so I try to be real quiet...
"After whispering to Stormy, Frosty says, 'Okay, everybody, we've got an announcement.'
"All of us look at Frosty, but before he can say anything else, I hear words flying out of my mouth...
" 'Frosty,' I ask, 'did you ever see that movie Pulp Fiction?' "

This story of how the kid with all the voices in his head turns out to be the voice of reason in a tense life-and-death situation is a spectacular read. And while there is great levity in the unique rapport that develops between Zach and the armed teens, beneath the hostage situation is the realization that no matter how the standoff ends, Zach will forever be hostage to those voices in his head.

I read the first three pages of "Inside Out" and knew I had to read the whole thing. The characterization is flawless, and the book gives an impeccable depiction of schizophrenia, and what's even more amazing is that the book is written in first person, giving you a more personal feel for what it might be like to not know what's real from what's fake. You finish this book with a new found empathy for people with schizophrenia, and what they have to endure.

Terry Trueman's 117-page YA novel, INSIDE OUT, is a good idea in that it seeks to show young readers what the inside of a teenaged schizophrenic's mind might feel like; the bad idea is the vehicle he chooses to show it with -- an unrealistic hold-up of a coffee shop by 17 and 14-year-old brothers who just want to help their cancer-stricken mother with money.

In the fiction business, the term "suspension of disbelief" has to do with the reader's willingness to go along with the situation provided by the author, to give the fiction writer the benefit of the doubt if he pushes it a bit in the realism department. Trueman probably goes too far here, as the two kids seem too young and too nice to hold up a coffee joint (of all places) to "do good" for their dying mother.

Getting past that, the book is entertaining and interesting for its dialogue and insight into the brain of people tortured by the voices of such mental illnesses as schizophrenia. Zach seems nonplussed by all the gun brandishing of brothers Alan (a.k.a. "Frosty") and Joey (a.k.a. "Stormy). He just doesn't get it. And his steady stream of non sequiturs comes across as funny, only they're (of course) not.

Throughout the hostage situation we get to know the "criminals" a bit. Older brother Alan is a sympathetic sort who shows genuine compassion for Zach. Younger brother Joey is more of a hot-headed type -- the sort of kid who frequently refers to Zach as a "retard" (a term Zach is very familiar with from school).

The novella has its share of profanity, but it only lends a realistic touch to the dialogue in such a situation. High marks go to INSIDE OUT for shedding some light on a medical condition few young readers know about. Like Mark Haddon's more ambitious THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, Trueman's book provides a point of view seldom seen and thus much in need. It's too bad some readers will be put off by the "This could never happen with THESE characters in REAL life..." aspect of the plot.

Trueman does an excellent job showing the world through the eyes of a boy with schizophrenia while simultaneously allowing the reader to see how his illness affects his thinking process and, in turn, his actions. Trueman takes his readers to a place they have never, and hopefully will never, be. It gives the reader a greater sensitivity to mental illness and its effects.

I didn't so much, "enjoy," this book as I truly appreciated it. I wouldn't say it was a fun read, - the tone was to serious for, "fun," - but it is absolutely a good read.

Very good.

This book was about a boy with schizophrenia in a coffee shop that gets held up. The boys that hold up the shop were trying to get money for their sick mom. I think this book would be good for a person who doesn't like to read because it is exciting and has a good amount of suspense.

Inside out is about a kid named Zach Wahhsted that has schizophrenia. When he was waiting for his mom at this coffee shop to get his medicine, two people held it up. When he cant get his medicine two people talk in his head and tell him to kill himself. After, a little while of talking to the robbers the people that talk in his head gets even worse.

I liked this book because it helped me read better and it was really good.

Ever wonder what it would be like if you were schizophrenic? If you were a 16 year old boy and schizophrenic? A 16 year old boy who just got out of school and is waiting for his mother to come and pick him up at the local coffee shop so he can then take his meds. which he desperately needs? And do you wonder what it would be like if you were this boy and then all of a sudden the coffee shop you are in gets held up in a robbery and you suddenly become a hostage? This book will show you just how much of a weapon of self-destruction a mind can be. This book is very unique and is absolutely wonderful. I gave this book four stars because the ending is so very depressing.