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Confronting Stereotypes of Teens with Schizophrenia: A
Review of Freaks Like Us and Inside Out
By lynmiller-lachmann on 2013-03-17 14:44:19
Earlier this month, I was asked by the Children’s Book Council to contribute a post to the CBC Diversity 101 blog, which
helps editors, librarians, teachers, reviewers, and authors identify basic misconceptions and problems in writing about
diverse populations. My post addressed dos and don’ts in creating characters with emotional and developmental disabilities,
reading, I have found the most pernicious stereotypes to be of people with mental illness, and especially schizophrenia. An
award-winning novel from 2009 that our local Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators group recently read—
Jennifer Donnelley’s Revolution—presented a soon-to-be-homeless schizophrenic as a fanatic who caused the death of the
protagonist’s 10-year-old brother and paralleled his murderous actions to that of Maximilien Robespierre during the French
Revolution. In the novel, the character with mental illness became the embodiment of evil. The perspectives of writers
reflect the overall fear and suspicion with which those who struggle with mental illness are regarded in our society. In the
wake of several mass murders, conservative opponents of gun control have called for the incarceration of persons with
mental illness as an alternative to restricting access to semiautomatic weapons. In fact, persons with mental illness, including
schizophrenia, are far more likely to be victims of a crime than the perpetrators. [caption id="attachment_4223"
Freaks
Like Us
align="alignleft" width="258" caption=""Freaks Like Us" cover image"] [/caption]
The basic vulnerability of a young person with schizophrenia serves as the heart of Susan Vaught’s poignant new YA thriller
Freaks Like Us. Eighteen-year-old Jason Milwaukee has been known all his life as “Freak,” and all his life he has suffered
from delusions and scolding voices that have whittled his self-esteem to nothing. Despite those challenges, he has been a
loyal lifelong friend to Derrick (Drip), a gangly teenager with severe allergies and severe attention-deficit-hyperactivity
disorder, and Sunshine, a girl who is selectively mute and highly anxious, and who Jason and Derrick believe has been
sexually abused. When Sunshine disappears one afternoon following a frightening encounter with a group of bullies, Jason
pledges to find her within the 24-hour window in which kidnap victims are most likely to be found alive. The problem is, the
police think he is the kidnapper. They refuse to believe his testimony because of his mental illness, and they think his illness
caused him to commit a horrific act. Each effort to find Sunshine convinces the police of his guilt. To make matters worse,
the bullies want revenge because they think Jason turned them in. Ultimately, Jason must survive violence from all sides to
prove his innocence and to learn the truth about his friend. Vaught shows Jason’s courage in standing up, not only to the
people who try to tear him down, but also to the voices in his head doing the same thing. He is a survivor and a person
capable of great love and loyalty. Vaught deserves high praise for creating a character with schizophrenia who is worthy of
admiration and who inspires others with his courage and perseverance. Vaught’s novel was endorsed by Terry Trueman, who
has written a number of books featuring characters with severe disabilities and who has attracted a great deal of controversy
for sending a message—implicit or, in the case of his award-winning Stuck in Neutral, explicit—that there are disabilities so
severe that those who suffer from them are better off dead. Trueman’s 2004 novel /nside Out features a character similar to
Jason who is tormented by the voices in his head but still manages to become a hero. [caption id="attachment_4225"
AUTEEA OF THE PRINT? HONDA BOO
align="alignright" width="278" caption=""Inside Out" cover image, 2003"]
[/caption] Trueman’s protagonist, Zach Wahhsted, is a gentle young man, a sharp contrast to predominant stereotypes of
persons with schizophrenia. While eating at a local coffee shop, he is swept up in a botched armed robbery that leads to the
staff and customers being taken hostage. Because Zach doesn’t behave like the other hostages, he rattles the already scared
young gunmen, but he isn’t scared. Because he is so calm in this situation, he proves to be more capable than anyone else,
including the authorities. The strength of this book is the way Trueman portrays all of the teenage characters—Zach and the
two robbers in a multidimensional and sympathetic way. He shows that someone other people write off as strange,
frightening, and to be avoided has an inner strength and capability that no one can imagine until a crisis occurs. Although the
final two pages seem preachy and unnecessary, and in fact undercut the theme of the rest of the novel, Trueman does
challenge stereotypes and humanize young people who suffer from mental illness.
