Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So by Mark Vonnegut
Recommended by Lin Salisbury for adults
After three psychotic breaks in his 20s, Mark Vonnegut went on to become a successful pediatrician. As the son of the late novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Mark was both blessed and cursed by his genes. This book of memoirs recounts what it is like to live with delusions, voices and the expectations that come from being the son of a famous novelist. Accepted into Harvard Medical School at the age of 28 after 19 rejections, Mark later found himself admitted to the same hospital where he worked, greeting colleagues while strapped to a gurney. Like his father, Vonnegut has a keen eye for the absurd, and after reading this book, you might have a new definition for “normal.”
Trash by Andy Mulligan
Recommended by Wes Byers for teens
Set in an unnamed third-world country in the not-so-distant future, three dumpsite boys— Raphael, Gardo and Rat—find a wallet stuffed with 1,100 pesos, a map and a key. What they think is a turn of good luck turns out to be a dangerous mission involving a secret code, a corrupt politician and a search for $6 million. Told in alternating chapters from each boy’s point of view, this book is a page-turner from the start.
Gilbert the Great by Charles Fuge
Recommended by Becky Bunker for kids
Like a child whose best friend moves away, Gilbert the Great White Shark is bereft after his best friend Raymond the Remora suddenly leaves to live somewhere else. “It’s my fault,” Gilbert wails, “Last week, I called him a sucker!” There is no consoling Gilbert, until one day he meets Rita, a remora who has lost her shark. Gilbert discovers that life is sweeter with a friend who sticks with you. Adults will enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humor, and kids will love Gilbert.
