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“A well-written, taut, and empathetic novel that provides readers with an unnerving vicarious experience.”—*SLJ* Fourteen-year-old Cameron Galloway of Lexington, Washington, understands that he has schizophreniform disorder and needs to take pills to quiet the voices in his head. But he likes the voices, especially the gentle, encouraging voice of The Girl. Conflicted, he turns to his friend Nina Savage, who is clinically depressed and can relate to his horror of the numbing effects of medication. They make a pact to ditch the pills. At first they feel triumphant, but soon Cameron’s untreated mind goes haywire—to disastrous effect. ** ### From School Library Journal Gr 7-10-Fourteen-year-old Cameron is struggling to reclaim his reality, if only he knew what it was. He has schizophreniform disorder, an unusual form of temporary schizophrenia that young people often grow out of. Medication controls the symptoms but alternately leaves victims feeling flat and abandoned. Cam's internal companions include two male voices, one that is a professorial, well-meaning guardian, and the other, a goading and calculating menace. An exciting new female voice is making his head spin. She's alluring and seductive, and is complicating his life. Cam is in conflict between taking his medication or forsaking the familiar, friendly, and flirtatious voices when he doesn't. He has been admitted to the psych ward twice since he was 11. Now he's in the EDP class at his junior high school. While his family frets over whether he is taking his meds, Cam is caught in a love triangle: a clinically depressed girl in his class who is clearly smitten with him and the manipulative Siren voice in his head that is gaining persuasive power. Cam's menacing alterego urges him to stop taking the pills and thus to feel vibrant, invincible, and daring. But not taking them propels him to a tipping point; the bad voice begins to dominate and Cam's behavior veers toward the dangerous. The teen's narrative portrays a scary battle, alternating between euphoria and terror. This is a well-written, taut, and empathetic novel that provides readers with an unnerving vicarious experience.-Alison Follos, formerly at North Country School, Lake Placid, NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. ### From Booklist To take meds or not take meds? Fourteen-year-old Cameron, who is suffering from schizophreniform disorder (a disorder less severe than schizophrenia), opts for the latter in an experiment to take control over his life. It’s not long before he is hearing voices: a rule-abiding persona he names the Professor; the Other Guy, who has the daring bravado Cameron lacks; and the Girl, an encouraging voice who wants to be his first girlfriend. As the voices compete for Cameron’s attention, so too does Nina, a clinically depressed classmate who agrees not to take her meds either. Just as readers learned about Asperger’s syndrome from Francisco X. Stork’s Marcelo in the Real World (2009), Cameron’s first-person narration allows access to an absorbing glimpse of schizophrenic behavior. His brain becomes a battleground in which he struggles to act “normal” as the disorder overtakes his moods and perceptions of reality. Averett, a clinical psychologist, balances Cameron’s setback with jabs of sly humor. Although his future remains uncertain, there is plenty of hope for his recovery. Thoughtful and eye-opening. Grades 8-11. --Angela Leeper