When I first picked up this book I thought it was going to be another sappy story about a depressed teen that is classified under “teen fiction”. Boy, am I glad that I was wrong. Well, it is kind of a sappy story about a depressed teen, but it sure is great and one of the best novels under this topic that I have ever read. This book is underrated because it includes thoughts about suicide and depression. I really am not sure why people are so scared about the topics of suicide and depression. ‘It’s kind of a funny story’ does not romanticize suicide and it doesn’t make being depressed sound like a fun thing to be . This story states how when you are depressed and cycling you should get help from somebody. Its not often that you come across a book about depression that is not depressing. This book will take you through the ups and downs of Craigs surprisingly normal childhood and adventure with his relationship with depression.

This novel is about a depressed 15 year old and his struggles throughout a high school that is too much for him. When Craig realizes that he doesn’t want to die he checks himself in the hospital without knowing where he was really going to go. He ended up in Six North Adult Psychiatric. This story is about Craigs experiences in the Hospital and stresses that cause him to go there. While in the Mental Ward he meets some new people that encourage him to live his life and do what he loves. He rediscovers his love for making maps of his own civilizations and makes it his ‘anchor’. While in this hospital he meets a girl around his age that has gashes across her face. Here comes the romantic part you must be thinking, but it isn’t. Their relationship is not mushy lovey stuff, it is what I would describe as beautiful. This girl helps Craig to realize who he is and what he wants to be.



In ‘It’s kind of a funny story’ the author does some awesome foreshadowing. This was by giving hints about what happens in the later pages of the story in the beginning of them. The major one was the first sentence of the book. “It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself.” (pg. 3) This made you think about what the plot of this story really is and why he wants to commit suicide. Your brain starts to race ahead to discover logical reasons why he would want to do this as you delve into the childhood of an unstable teenager and have a constant stream of memories flooding back. You start to relate yourself to the character and find how you are different from them in so many ways at the same time. All of this happens because of the result of one sentence!
















The author of this story really did do a great job. He made sure to get Craigs story to stick in your mind and make you ponder where it all went wrong. This allowed you to live the story along with the characters, not just read it. The story is chopped up, but I actually think it makes more sense that way. It allows the reader even more insight into how the real world actually is. ‘It’s kind of a funny story’ was so interesting that I stayed up all night to finish it. I’m glad that I did. This novel really is a great read for teenagers if you are all right about drugs and mentions of suicide. It really will have an impact on you, and a great one too. It made me think about my own feelings and try to pay a little bit more attention to them. This is because this novel showed that one decision could make your life go in a very different direction. So I am trying to put more thought into my decisions too. Take the time to read this novel and see depression in a whole new light.