Gr 8 Up–At age six, Jason's mentally ill father tried to bury him alive. Now 15, Jason is left alone to care for the man. They live in squalor, and the teen is in constant fear for his father's (and his own) safety. When he begins to act erratically at school, he's sent to group therapy. There he meets three other kids with screwed-up families. Though he begins to trust and love them, he keeps his father's illness a secret. When the truth comes out, his father is hospitalized and Jason is sent to foster care. He discovers, guiltily, what it's like to be a little normal. The chemistry among members of the group calls to mind John Barnes's extraordinary Tales of the Madman Underground (Viking, 2009), and these characters sparkle. Nolan writes with her usual combination of ease and gravitas.
