Summary:
ALOT happens in this chunk of the novel. Craig hooks up with Noelle, heck, he even hooks up with Nia! He makes friends, breaks friends, and decides he wants to transfer to a school for art. Why? During one of the art activities/workshops he attended, Craig had an art-block, and Noelle told him to draw something from his childhood, this reminds him of the maps he used to make as a kid/child. He realises, these maps are his escape, his Anchor. They make him feel happy, accomplished. Long story short, he realises why he should't kill himself, and he leaves the hospital with many friends, hoping to return as a voluneer during 'Musical Discovery', to help patients like his friend and former-tour guide, Bobby, or his roommate, Muqtada, who barely gets out of bed. He is starting his life anew, and from now on, its a straight road to success, even if it doesn't mean going to Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School.
Quote:
I feel my stomach and liver and all that mushy stuff that's in there handling food, happy to be back in use. But most of all I feel my brain, up there taking in blood and looking out on the world and noticing humor and light and smells and dogs and every other think in the world-- everything in my life is all in my brain, really, so it would be natural that when my brain was screwed up, everything in my life would be.
I feel my brain on top of my spine and I feel it shift a little bit to the left.
That's it. It happens in my brain once the rest of my body has moved. I don't know where my brain went. It got knocked off-kilter somewhere. It got caught up in some crap it couldn't deal with. But now it's back-- connected to my spine and ready to take charge.
Jeez, why was I trying to kill myself?
It's a huge thing, this Shift, just as big as I imagined. My brain doesn't want to think anymore; all of a sudden it wants to do.
Run. Eat. Drink. Eat more. ------ Take these verbs and enjoy them. They're yours, Craig. You deserve them because you chose them. You could have left them all behind but you chose to stay here.
So now live for real, Craig. Live. Live. Live. Live. Live (Vizzini 442-444).
Reaction:
I'm glad he got out a-ok! XD I was expecting a full recovery (even though he still isn't fully cured, and could fall back into being depressed any minute/moment), but this novel went out with a bang. I love the final few pages of the novel too. It's like a 'lesson learned' kind of thing. Craig finally got the 'Shift' he was eagerly waiting for, and he now realizes that it would be dumb to ever think about killing yourself, nevertheless trying to kill yourself, because you would be missing out on life; Love, happiness, adventure, and etc. Great novel. More teens should read this book. I know, that just like the book, school pressures kids, and makes them depressed or whatever. This book would be kind of like the book Craig read before he called the Suicide Hotline, which saved his life. How to Survive the Loss of a Love. Hopefully this book will help others survive, and heal themselves, too.
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