Beyond Crazy

Book excerpt: Being in a band is Stelle’s salvation. It is her escape from the chaotic clutter at home and her mother’s depression. Even though she is able to lose herself for a few hours, pounding away on the drums in the basement of her dad’s new house, as soon as she leaves, it’s as if the world is going crazy all around her: one bandmate’s parents refuse to acknowledge their son is gay; her band’s only potential lead singer dresses like a vampire; and even her best friend, Lu, with the “perfect family,” has been on edge lately. But it’s the strange, confused conversations that Stelle has with her grandmother in the nursing home that hold the key to unlocking the unhappiness at the heart of her family.