Inside Out
3.5/5
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About this ebook
In a busy coffee shop, a robbery goes wrong. Two gunmen hold seven hostages, including teenager Zach Wahhsted. What nobody realizes at first is that Zach is anything but ordinary and his troubled mind is more dangerous than any weapon. Terry Trueman has created a compelling character with the same shocking power and heartbreaking compassion as his Printz Honor Award debut novel, Stuck in Neutral.
Ages 12+
Terry Trueman
Terry Trueman grew up in the northern suburbs of Seattle, Washington. He attended the University of Washington, where he received his BA in creative writing. He also has an MS in applied psychology and an MFA in creative writing, both from Eastern Washington University. Terry is also the author of Stuck in Neutral and its companion novel, Cruise Control; Hurricane; 7 Days at the Hot Corner; No Right Turn; and Inside Out.
Read more from Terry Trueman
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Reviews for Inside Out
14 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In this very short novel, we meet Zach just at the moment the coffee shop he's sitting in is being robbed by two desperate young men. It quickly becomes apparent that something is not quite right about Zach. He's not scared, he doesn't seem to know when it's best to keep quiet, he's much more interested in getting a maple bar than in getting out of harm's way, and, honestly, he's not quite sure the situation he's in is even real. When the police arrive, the robbery escalates to hostage situation. Over the course of the next few hours, secrets will emerge. Zach is sick, and he needs his medicine, but the people in the back room of the coffee shop need a hero, and Zach might just be the only guy who can be one.Inside Out is a fast paced book that grips from the very first page. In addition to the action and suspense of the coffee shop hostage situation, there's a lot going on in these few pages not the least of which is Zach's struggle against his mental illness. In Zach's narration and intervening notes from his medical file, a door is opened into living with mental illness. While the book is intended for a young adult audience, I found Zach's perspective illuminating, giving me a better understanding of his disease.At the risk of spoiling such a short book, I'll say no more about the plot. What I will say is that I was impressed with how Trueman brought a plot rich book together with a strong portrayal of a mentally ill character and gave sympathetic eye to all three of his male main characters. If you're looking for a quick read that packs a punch, give this one a try!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really liked this book. I can relate alot to the character, speaking as I also take Medication that is very similar. Depicts what Schizophrenia is really like, also sort of descripes what Aspergers is in a way.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book had a personal impact on me that won't apply to everyone, but Inside Out is a valuable read for anyone because it looks at a specific situation from the perspective of a young man with Paranoid Schizophrenia. It is not a very long book, and I think it is best read in one sitting. It looks at life with an open mind and I found it to be very realistic. Some of it is kind of weird, but it's supposed to be, because people with this condition struggle with a weird thought pattern. I thought the description of schizophrenia throughout the text was very helpful, and it is an interesting read, but it has a tragic ending.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Richie's Picks: INSIDE OUT by Terry Trueman." 'Zach, you're a stupid wong-gong, a long-gone wong-gong.'"I ignore this, but while I'm sitting here being quiet, my palms are sweaty and my throat is dry. I need to decide if this situation is real or not; I need to decide that right now. Sometimes I understand what's going on, and other times I don't have a clue. If I don't figure this one out, I could be in trouble." According to the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression: "Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe brain disorder which affects approximately 1 percent of the world population. Approximately 2 million people in the United States suffer from the disease in a given year. Schizophrenia is characterized by positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and markedly disorganized behavior. Negative symptoms include reduced emotional expression, social withdrawal, loss of pleasure, difficulty concentrating and/or thinking, and a lack of energy, spontaneity or initiative. Treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms and preventing psychotic relapses. Schizophrenia is usually treated with antipsychotic medication, and may be used in combination with psychosocial therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Many scientists believe that schizophrenia results from a chemical imbalance in the brain, and are investigating various neurotransmitters in determining this imbalance." Sixteen-year-old Zach Wahhsted suffers from adolescent onset schizophrenia. He waits at the coffee shop after school each day; him mom picks him up there up at 3:30 and gives him his medication. It is imperative that he get his twice-daily medication on time so that Rat and Dirtbag--the worst of the voices in his head that have tortured him in the past--don't come back. Today, Zach will not get his medication on time. "All I want is a maple bar, but I don't think these kids with the guns care about what I want." Today, as Zach waits for his mom's arrival, a pair of teenagers, "Frosty" and "Stormy," come in to rob the coffee shop and the situation disintergrates into an armed standoff with hostages. "I look around at everybody else in this place, and they all look scared, so I'm trying to look scared too. I mean, I guess I'm scared, but this all seems so normal to me. The thing is, I'm used to seeing and hearing really weird stuff, so this doesn't feel that strange to me at all." As a schizophrenic, Zach tends to react differently--some would say inappropriately. "One of the kids with a gun, the older-looking one, says, 'Nobody's gonna get hurt if you just do what we tell you!'"I say, 'Okay.'"He seems surprised at the sound of my voice and looks at me real fast, then away again."He says, 'We don't wanna hurt anybody.'" 'Good,' I say."He looks at me again, 'You gotta problem?' he asks. I think he sounds mad." 'Yes,' I say."This surprises him too. 'Oh, yeah?' he asks, then he points his gun right at me. 'What's your problem?'"I'm sort of surprised that he wants to know."His gun is big and black, with a wide hole in the end of the barrel. It's like a tunnel."I answer him as truthfully as I can. 'I'm sick, that's my problem; I take medicine two times every day, thanks for asking.' " "The lunatic is in my headThe lunatic is in my headYou raise the blade, you make the changeYou re-arrange me 'til I'm saneYou lock the doorAnd throw away the keyThere's someone in my head but it's not me"--Pink Floyd INSIDE OUT is a tense and often comic tale that plays out inside the back room of the coffee shop and inside Zach Wahhsted's head as 3:30 comes and goes... "I wonder if Frosty and Stormy are going to shoot me. Like in that movie Pulp Fiction. The bad guys shoot lots of people in that movie. I'm definitely NOT going to ask them about Pulp Fiction or about shooting us. I don't want to give them any bad ideas."I don't even want to think about getting shot, and so I try to be real quiet..."After whispering to Stormy, Frosty says, 'Okay, everybody, we've got an announcement.'"All of us look at Frosty, but before he can say anything else, I hear words flying out of my mouth..." 'Frosty,' I ask, 'did you ever see that movie Pulp Fiction?' " This story of how the kid with all the voices in his head turns out to be the voice of reason in a tense life-and-death situation is a spectacular read. And while there is great levity in the unique rapport that develops between Zach and the armed teens, beneath the hostage situation is the realization that no matter how the standoff ends, Zach will forever be hostage to those voices in his head.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hold on because this book starts out intensely and doesn't stop. A young man named Zach is waiting for his mother to show up at a diner with his medication, finds himself being held hostage by a pair of brothers who decide to rob the diner. The brother, obviously inexperienced robbers and hostage holders, stumble and bumble their way through the robbery. Zach becomes increasingly argumentative and combative, which throws the brothers off. As the story goes on you discover why these boys are desperate enough to rob a diner, and why Zach is desperate enough to challenge them. This book will grip you from beginning to end.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Zach can't believe that he is a hostage in a robbery gone wrong. This is partly because the event is so shocking, but also because he is schizophrenic and is used to finding himselves in unbelievable scary situations. During the robbery, we hear his inner monologue that shows his attention wavering and getting more incoherent as he goes longer without his medication. He figures out that the robbery is real, yet is almost certain that his fellow hostages are slowly turning into zombies out to get him. He is afraid that he will get shot or that his lack of medication will damage his mind, but he is equally worried that he won't get to eat the candy bars left out on the counter. Trueman captures the mindset of the schizophrenic very well. I did find the ending very disappointing. Because this book was so short and had a compelling plot that moved quickly, I would Recommend this title for reluctant readers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hold on because this book starts out intensely and doesn't stop. A young man named Zach is waiting for his mother to show up at a diner with his medication, finds himself being held hostage by a pair of brothers who decide to rob the diner. The brother, obviously inexperienced robbers and hostage holders, stumble and bumble their way through the robbery. Zach becomes increasingly argumentive and compative, which throws the brothers off. As the story goes on you discover why these boys are desperate enough to rob a diner, and why Zach is desperate enough to challenge them. This book will grip you from beginning to end.
Book preview
Inside Out - Terry Trueman
1
All I want is a maple bar, but I don’t think these kids with the guns care about what I want.
I didn’t even look up when they first walked into the coffee shop, even though the little bell on the door went tingaling. But now I look.
This is a robbery,
yells the taller, older-looking kid, holding a black gun. He’s around my age, maybe sixteen. The other kid’s hand is shaking, and the little silver gun he’s holding is shaking too; he looks younger than the first kid.
They both look mad, mean, too.
We’re just here for the cash registers,
yells the older kid. You all just sit tight!
I glance out the window, and I see a lady in a blue car. Her mouth has dropped open and she’s staring straight at us. Now she’s talking on her cell phone as she speeds away. I look back at the robber kids. I don’t think they saw the lady in the car.
I look around at everybody else in this place, and they all look scared, so I’m trying to look scared too. I mean, I guess I’m scared, but this all seems so normal to me. The thing is, I’m used to seeing and hearing really weird stuff, so this doesn’t feel that strange to me at all. It feels familiar. But it’s probably weird to everyone else, ’cause they’re freaking out.
The two suits sitting over at the table against the wall are white as ghosts. One of them is fat; I don’t want to be rude, but he is. His white shirt is stretched tight over his big belly, and his tie doesn’t reach his belt. The other one is skinny. They remind me of these two old movie characters, Laurel and Hardy, who were a skinny guy and a fat guy too. Laurel and Hardy are my favorites because they’re always arguing and the fat guy yells and the skinny guy starts bawling like a baby. But the fat suit here in this coffee shop isn’t yelling, and the skinny suit isn’t crying … at least not yet.
Two old ladies sitting at the table next to the two suits are quiet and sit very still. I have to stare at them for a few seconds to be sure they’re even real. Finally one of them blinks, but I’m still not sure about the other one. The girl and guy who work behind the counter are frozen like statues. Even though I sit in here every day after school waiting for my mom, I don’t know the guy’s or girl’s name and they don’t know mine. A lady and her little daughter, who were ordering drinks when these kids with the guns busted in, are just standing with their faces all squinched up, which is too bad because the lady is pretty and her little girl is cute. They could be in a commercial about pretty moms and daughters.
One of the kids with a gun, the older-looking one, says, Nobody’s gonna get hurt if you just do what we tell you!
I say, Okay.
He seems surprised at the sound of my voice and looks at me real fast, then away again.
He says, We don’t wanna hurt anybody.
Good,
I say.
He looks at me again, You got a problem?
He asks. I think he sounds mad.
Yes,
I say.
This surprises him too. Oh, yeah?
he asks. Then he points his gun right at me. What’s your problem?
I’m sort of surprised that he wants to know.
His gun is big and black, with a wide hole in the end of the barrel. It’s like a tunnel.
I answer him as truthfully as I can. I’m sick, that’s my problem; I take medicine two times every day, thanks for asking.
The younger kid yells, Shut up or we’ll hurt you.
He sounds like kids at school sound just before they do something like knock your lunch tray out of your hands.
I think about what the older kid said, about not wanting to hurt anybody. So now I’m confused by the younger one saying they might hurt me. I thought you didn’t wanna?
I ask.
Didn’t wanna what?
asks the older kid.
Hurt anybody.
We don’t.
He hesitates. So don’t make us.
Make you?
Now I’m really confused. Why would I try to make anybody hurt me? What am I gonna do, say something like Come on, please, please, shoot me a few times
? And people call me weird?
The older kid says, "So just shut up and we won’t hurt you."
Ohhh,
I say. Okay.
I think, Close one, Zach, you almost screwed up again.
"Zach, you’re a stupid wong-gong, a long-gone wong-gong."
I ignore this, but while I’m sitting here being quiet, my palms are sweaty and my throat is dry. I need to decide if this situation is real or not; I need to decide that right now. Sometimes I understand what’s going on, and other times I don’t have a clue. If I don’t figure this one out, I could be in trouble.
So I look closer at the kids with the guns—they’re not much bigger than I am. They’re both wearing blue jeans and the older one is wearing a baseball hat and a black T-shirt. The younger one doesn’t have a hat on and his T-shirt is yellow. Their faces look pretty normal: noses, eyes, mouths, ears and hair and eyebrows. So far so good. If I were just imagining them, they’d probably be missing some of those parts. So I think that probably I’m not imagining them. I think these are real kids with real guns. After all, it looks like the other people sitting here see them too. Dr. Curt always tells me to use all my senses when I’m trying to figure out reality.
Like if I’m hearing too much stuff and my ears are being used up, then I need to use my eyes and nose, my sense of taste and touch to figure if things are real or not. But sometimes I can’t trust any of my other senses either.
The thing is, I am not normal. I’m not, and I can’t help it. I get massively confused. I’ve got two psycho-killer enemies named Dirtbag and Rat after me. My body, most of the time, feels like a foreign country. Like I told the kid with the big black gun, I’m sick.
"Hey, Zach, think, think, shrink shrink, wong-gong."
And then, of course, there’s that crap.
I mutter back, Up yours.
The younger kid points his gun right at me and says, I thought we told you to shut up!
Yeah, you did, really, honestly, you did tell me that,
I say. You said shut up and no one will get hurt.
I’m surprised he forgot.
So why are you still talking?
he