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val_halla's review against another edition
5.0
Watching a child struggle with schizophrenia may be one of the most difficult challenges a parent can face. Schofield is honest about the times he didn't handle it well, and his writing beautifully conveys the conflict within a family ripped apart by mental illness. I wondered how his wife felt about the angry way he wrote about her in the book.
3dotsforme's review against another edition
4.0
An heart-rending true story of a father's quest to find help for his 6 yr old daughter in her struggle with mental illness.
occasionalreader25's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, that was a depressing book. Fascinating, but depressing. It's rough to have a child with any illness, but childhood onset schizophrenia is hard to top. I'm glad my challenge in life is not to be January Schofield's parent.
pglt1177's review against another edition
5.0
WOW!! I cried, I laughed, I flinched. This is a harrowing and sometimes heartbreaking story of a father's struggle to get his daughter the help she deserves. I have seen this family on the Oprah show and just recently saw another special on them. Jani is now 10 years old and has schizophrenia. This book is the story of how they finally got the diagnosis of schizophrenia and the hardships it to took to get them to that diagnois. Wonderfully written. I highly recommend this one.
exmish's review against another edition
5.0
My rating is more out of my personal ability to relate to what this author went through than because it's a well-written, deserving of classic status book.
I'm glad we never had to experience the hospitalizations, but most of the other aspects of parenting a child with a mental illness were spot-on.
I'm glad we never had to experience the hospitalizations, but most of the other aspects of parenting a child with a mental illness were spot-on.
traumgespinst's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
3.0
maureenmccombs's review against another edition
3.0
Harrowing, riveting and heartbreaking. This memoir about a father's fight to help is young daughter from descending into schizophrenia was nail-biting. This is an incredibly fast read that I was unable to put down.
deadkate's review against another edition
1.0
The only thing that kept me going through this book was pure stubbornness. I was appalled at the author for the selfish, contradictory, and mean way he treats (and even thinks about!) not only the professionals that were desperately trying to care for his daughter, but also his wife, infant son, and even his dog. At times I was ESPECIALLY disgusted at the way he treats his dog.
The man's anger is understandable, but one expects at least the bare minimum of empathy out of any human being. His only attempts at empathy are between fits of rage that seem to explode out of nowhere. In short, he seems like a nightmare to try to work with or even reason with. I am surprised his wife stays with him, although according to the dialogue she seems to scream and yell as much as he does.
In short, this is a somewhat interesting but entirely frustrating read. If you need to fuel some inner rage, this is great stoking material.
The man's anger is understandable, but one expects at least the bare minimum of empathy out of any human being. His only attempts at empathy are between fits of rage that seem to explode out of nowhere. In short, he seems like a nightmare to try to work with or even reason with. I am surprised his wife stays with him, although according to the dialogue she seems to scream and yell as much as he does.
In short, this is a somewhat interesting but entirely frustrating read. If you need to fuel some inner rage, this is great stoking material.
imbook_ed's review against another edition
4.0
I had to read this book for a project in college and I was shocked at how much I liked it and also hated it at the same time. There was one part where I actually started crying and I was so angry I had to put the book down and walk away however, it is very real and raw! This book is written by the father of the child so I’m sure there are other sides to the same story so I would take it with a grain of salt but it kept me interested and that’s hard to do for a school assignment!