Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes
Karl Shoemaker has been going to his high school’s group therapy for a long time, but he promises himself this year will be different. Karl plans to be absolutely normal.
The only problem is that it is hard to be normal when your mother steals money from you to party all night. It is hard to be normal when you have to work five different jobs to make ends meet while also going to school. It is hard to be normal when your friends have similar or worse life situations as you.
It is especially hard to be normal when all your friends are in therapy with you and by not going to the group it looks like you are giving up on them.
There is a new girl in school this year and she fits right in with the Madman Underground, which is the name Karl has for the therapy group. Over the course of the next week Karl will relate to her the many exploits of the Madman Underground and how they always have each others’ back. But if they are such good friends why would he ever want to give them up just to be normal? Karl has a lot of thinking to do and since the Madman Underground always have a crisis or two he will definitely get his chance to decide: stay crazy or be friendless and normal?
Tales of the Madman Underground is a good book for anyone interested in how people deal with many different kinds of abuses or bad home lives. The story is told in an episodic fashion as Karl relates the epic adventures his group of friends have had. Sometimes these flashbacks slows the story down or confuses the main plot but it wraps up really enjoyably if you stick with until the end. I would recommend it for those who want a more realistic drama and it is appropriate for ages 16 and up.




The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Victory of Eagles (Temeraire Series Book 5) by Naomi Novik