John Corey Whaley is from a little town less than an hour down the highway from my house. I picked up his second novel "Noggin" for that reason. I didn't expect to like it, but "Noggin" blew me away. His third novel, "Highly Illogical Behavior" has pretty much left me feeling the same way as "Noggin" did, quietly awestruck. You see, I don't read YA fiction. I'm a middle aged male that reads historical fiction, biographies, fantasy, mysteries, etc.. But Whaley has a way of transporting me back to my youth. He makes me laugh, he makes me smile, he puts a lump in my throat, and he makes me remember. I'm not sure I'm doing justice by only awarding this book 4 stars. Whaley is quite extraordinary.

Just a lovely little book about a boy with panic attacks who is befriended by two classmates after he freaks out at school and jumps in a fountain. It is sweet without being cloying, with sharply drawn characters who seem real and conflicts that make the reader care deeply. Not the deepest read, but I read it on vacation and I loved it.

Very interesting take on mental illness and society's desire to "fix" people. Lisa, the "fixer", is annoying as hell. She's SUPPOSED to be. She's 17 and thinks she can "fix" a severely agoraphobic teen. Solomon is sweet, and Clark is adorably adorable. The author's descriptions of panic attacks are spot on, so read it just for that if you've never experienced one.

4.5 Stars
Solomon Reed hasn't been outside since he was 12 due to panic attacks. Staying inside makes things better for him, so that he is able to function. One day, a girl he went to junior high with writes him a letter asking if she can visit. What Sol doesn't know, however, is that she wants to use him and his mental illness to write her college entrance essay.

Spoiler

This book seemed odd to me at first. It felt very fast paced in the first 50 pages, and I thought it was going to be a cliché story about how a girl "cures" a mentally ill boy because they fall in love. But when it was revealed that Sol is gay, I started to see a bit of myself in Lisa, Sol, and Clark...and then I couldn't put the book down. The part that really got me was on page 83 of the hardcover edition because it is the first time I've read a character's experiences with realizing their sexuality that mirrored my own experience, including the part about not telling anyone because it is a "nonissue". In a way, I think this one page is making me reconsider myself a bit, because it makes me wonder if Sol's anxiety stems a bit from not coming out.

The one thing I didn't care for was that it seemed a bit queer-baitey at the end. I really wanted Sol to end up with Clark and have it be happily ever after. However, when I finished it and started thinking a bit I realized that in a way, them not ending up together IS a happy ending. It shows that things will be ok if your love is unrequited. It is especially important that it is a queer character's unrequited love, because it hits harder, I think. There are less queer people in the world, so it is harder to find love, making it a bigger deal when love is unrequited. I'm not saying it is easy for straight people to deal with unrequited love, but in the end there ARE more fish in the sea for them, so to speak.

Overall well written, an enjoyable read.

This is the first YA novel I've read in a while that I've actually ENJOYED. It was not cliche, but instead interesting, and the characters were believable and likeable. Ending was EHh but overall I really liked reading it!

Let me start out by saying that I loved this book not because it was written well, but because it read like good fanfiction that I would normally enjoy. Certainly not a requisite for the Printz award, but it gets the Angie "I would have love to have read this as fanfiction" award, and in a good way (if you want an example of "reads like fanfiction when I didn't want fanfiction" see my review for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child)!

ANYWAY, Harry Potter is an agoraphobe, and hasn't been outside of his house in 3 years, since a panic attack drove him to shed his clothes and lie in the Hogwarts fountain. He never returned to Hogwarts but takes magical classes online, happy to be at home with his awesome parents who make plenty of money to keep their son comfortable and happy in his safe home indoors.

Hermione is a know-it-all who is determined to get into the second-best magical medical school for psychology. Her project is Harry, whom she is determined to "fix" and then write an essay about to get a full ride into college. Who knew Harry would in fact be fun to hang out with and not crazy at all! Why, she should introduce her boyfriend Ron to this charming young man!

Begin spoilers:

Spoiler

Ah, but Harry comes out as gay to his first real friend, Hermione. And Hermione has been thinking Ron suspect lately as their relationship hasn't gone beyond the merest of touches; and water polo with other boys in Speedoes? Totally suspect. So when Ron and Harry meet and immediately hit it off, Hermione is heartbroken but happy for her friends. Harry begins to improve upon his condition with these two new friends. Until the story just crashes and burns. Like, it's a Love-Train wreck when the truth is out about everything. Who loves whom? Who are real friends?

And this is where the fanfiction ends and the reality begins. Harry/Solomon is an agoraphobe who isn't magically cured by the end of the book. Ron/Clark is NOT gay and doesn't hook up with his best friend. Hermione/Lisa does NOT know everything and is not a licensed psychiatrist and doesn't magically cure anyone and makes some really BIG mistakes. I enjoyed this dose of realism even if I did want Harry and Ron to get together, but let's be real, they are Solomon and Clark and they are two lonely guys that enjoy being homebodies and being best friends. And the ending was perfect. If you want the other ending, find a fanfic, I'm sure this scenario is actually out there somewhere. Or read this manga that is strangely similar, that I happened to start reading at the same time:Ten Count