Patterson, James. 2017. Crazy House. New York: Hachette Book Group. ISBN 9780316431316
Seniors in high school, Becca and Cassie Greenfield are not having an easy senior year of high school. Their mom has been sent away for “help” and hasn’t returned. Their dad unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide. Somehow through it all, the girls have managed to keep a roof over the heads and food on the table. The one day, Becca disappears. Cassie tries desperately to get someone to acknowledge that her sister is missing, but in their “cell” everyon acts as though it’s business as usual and Becca just ran away, making her a bad citizen. Meanwhile, Becca is in prison. On death row. For some unknown reason. And then it’s made known that they have the wrong twin. Eventually Cassie lands herself right next to her sister. Through beatings and fights, the girls struggle to avoid being put to death. But for what? No one knows the real reason this crazy house is filled with kids.
I listened to the audio version of this book read by Therese Plummer on Audible. Plummer bring the girls to life by altering their voices just enough so the listener knows who is speaking. Though I was engaged in the story from the beginning, the cussing was almost over the top--enough so that if I was not listening to this book as part of my coursework, I would have stopped listening. This book is definitely for the upper end of YA due to the extensive language and violence it contains. There’s a nice twist at the end I did not expect until I was almost right on top of it, answering the myriad of questions I had as a reader throughout. Patterson ties up the novel nicely and leaves it open in such a way to invite a sequel. This book could be used in the upper grades for literary analysis and discussion of dystopian societies.
Crazy House continues to sit on the New York Times Bestseller list for Young Adult Novels.
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