Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington - OPTIONAL

Harrington, Karen  Sure Signs of Crazy, 280 p. Little, Brown and Company, 2013.  $17.00.  Language: PG (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

Twelve year old Sarah is struggling with her identify, but not for the same reason most preteen girls struggle, Sarah can’t tell people about her true self or her family because she carries a very heavy secret.  If the wrong people learn this secret she and her Dad will have to move again; and they’ve already moved several times in the past ten years.  Sarah has learned to cope with this secret by becoming best friends with Plant (a green plant) and by writing her most inner thoughts in her “real” diary and by writing to her favorite character, Atticus Finch, for a summer writing project. 

I enjoyed Harrington’s writing style.  She uses lots of clever metaphors and interesting vocabulary words, which she defines after she uses them.  She makes an ordinary houseplant and Atticus Finch, a character from To Kill a Mockingbird seem like actual characters in her book.

After reading Sure Signs of Crazy I looked at Karen Harrington’s website and was surprised to see the recommended reading age is 9 years old and up or 4^th grade and up. I would have thought it was more appropriate for sixth grade and older.  I found that Harrington wrote this book after she wrote an adult novel called Janeology, a book about Sarah’s mother.  I personally think Harrington took an adult topic and called it children’s literature because the main character is a preteen girl.  Instead of showing healthy relationships, Harrington, allows Sarah and other characters to struggle in their dysfunctional relationships.  Not something I’d want my own daughters reading about at a young age.

MS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: SHL