4 stars! 
 It's Kind of a Funny Story tells the story of Craig Gilner, a 15 years old teen, who's 
 DEPRESSED. 
 Craig doesn't know why he is Depressed... he doesn't have a particularly reason to blame it on... he just IS. 
 He has started High school last fall and his day-to-day life is just full of things that make him anxious, things he can't seem to handle as well as he should. 
 "Tentacles is my term-- the Tentacles are the evil tasks that invade my life. Like, for example, my American History class last week..." 
 "The opposite of the Tentacles are the Anchors. The Anchors are things that occupy my mind and make me feel good temporarily. Riding my bike is an Anchor" 
 "There are a lot of Tentacles," I admit. "But I should be able to handle them". 
 Craig's been dealing with Depression for a few months. He has very bad days... days where he can't seem to put a stop to his depressive thoughts ... thoughts that just make him feel worthless... 
 "My mind starts the Cycling. (...) Over and over again, a cycling of tasks, of failures, of problems. I'm young, but I'm already screwing up my life. I'm smart but not enough--just smart enough to have problems. Not smart enough to get good grades. Not smart enough to have a girlfriend. Girls think I'm weird. (...) I haven't done enough with my life. I don't play sports. I quit Tae Bo. I'm not involved in any social causes. My one friend is a screw up--a genius blessed with the most beautiful girl in the world, and he doesn't even know it. There's so much more for me to be doing. I should be a success and I'm not and other people--younger people-- are. Younger people than me are on TV and getting paid and winning scholarships and getting their lives in order. I'm still a nobody. When am I going to not be a nobody?" 
 "I'm no one; I'll never make it in my life..." 
 "Life is a nightmare." 
 "I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad". 
 "I just want to not be me. Whether it's sleeping or playing video games or riding my bike or studying. Giving my brain up. That's what's important." 
 Craig's been taking medication for Depression and seeing a Therapist for a while... 
 "I took my Zoloft every day. Some days I woke up and got out of bed and brushed my teeth like any normal human being; some days I woke up and lay in bed and looked at the ceiling and wondered what the hell the point was of getting out of bed and brushing my teeth like any normal human being." 
 And he desperately wants to get better ... to feel whole again. 
 "I want there to be a Shift so bad. I want to feel my brain slide back into the slot it was meant to be in, rest there the way it did before the fall of last year, back when I was young, and witty, and my teachers said I had incredible promise, and I had incredible promise, and I spoke up in class because I was excited and smart about the world." 
 But as time passes and he keeps having bad days... Holding on is becoming harder and harder. 
 So.. he starts considering 
 SUICIDE 
 ... 
 "I look at myself in the bathroom light. Yes, I'm okay. I'm okay because I have a plan and a solution: I'm going to kill myself. I'm going to do it tonight. This is such a farce, this whole thing. I thought I was better and I'm not better. I tried to get stable and I can't get stable." 
 "My Tentacles have Tentacles, and I'm never going to cut them off. But my Anchor, that's easy: it's killing myself. That's what gets me through the day. Knowing that I could do it. That I'm strong enough to do it and I can get it done". 
 But will he really do it... should he do it? Is there no other way for him to stop suffering? 
 "I want to live but I want to die. What do I do?" 
 Craig ends up being checked in a Mental Hospital... 
 "I'm going to be here until I'm cured?" 
 "Life is not cured, Mr. Gilner." Dr. Mahmoud leans in. 
 "Life is managed." 
 Craig will be in the Mental Hospital, for at least, 5 days... 
 There, Craig meets people with different psychiatric issues; he befriends them, and he looks for ways to stabilize his depression, have better-Happier-days and cope better with his day-to-day life. 
 "Sometimes I just think depression's one way of coping with the world. Like, some people get drunk, some people do drugs, some people get depressed. Because there's so much stuff out there that you have to do something to deal with it." 
 "Everybody has problems. Some people just hide their crap better than others..." 
 ******************** 
 This book is very realistic in his take on Depression... it doesn't manipulate the readers to have feels or to cry like a baby... it just tells things how they are - which I really liked! 
 I, also, really liked that there wasn't a trauma related to Craig's Depression or a bad family environment ... because it is true, sometimes you're depressed just because you are... 
 The characters were, mainly, people who had their own issues: 
 I really disliked Nia! I don't care what psychological issues she might have, it doesn't grant her the right to be a self-centered, selfish, little b*tch (which she is!)... 
 Aaron wasn't a very good friend ... but he did kind of come around in the end and I do believe he cared about Craig, in his own way. 
 I really liked Craig's family... they were a perfect family, as loving and as supportive as all families should be. 
 I also really liked the Mental hospital's patients... I liked seeing Craig befriending them and seeing them fighting to get better and to straight up their lifes :) 
 I liked Noelle -she was cool and strong -and I'm so sorry that she couldn't deal with what happend to her, in some other way, other then the cuts... I liked her little romance with Craig - They were cute together. 
 I'll end up by mentioning that this book is kind of autobiographic as the author - Ned Vizzini - himself, spent time in a Psychiatric hospital. Also...The author died in 2013 by suicide... which is really sad and painful... and just makes me wonder how much of our Main Character's issues and feelings weren't, in fact, the author's.