AS King writes some of the weirdest stuff, and is one of the most difficult writers I can think of to match to any particular teen I know. I'm sure they're out there--I'm sure I'd have loved this as a teen--but it's not something with widespread appeal. 
 As an adult I found it engrossing and heartbreaking and hopeful all at once and by turns. It's such an interesting blend of reality and fantasy, where the fantasy could be just mental illness, except that it's not. I'm not being articulate, and that may be the best praise for the book I can give.