Week 12- Imaginaaaation

Hi! I know that normally these go up on Saturdays, but I don't know if I can put it up tomorrow. So, let's get started! As you know, I finished The Raven Boys, but I didn't tell you which book I'd be starting (mostly because I didn't know yet). I started reading a happy little book called Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos. And when I say it's happy, I'm being 100% sarcastic. The main character is a boy named James Whitman. Because of his last name, he likes to quote Walt Whitman, and is into poetry. I'll be completely honest, and please don't kill me, I don't think I've read a single thing from Walt Whitman. Maybe I have, but I don't remember. Anyways, James is a poet. That's cool, and not what I mean when I say it's not a happy book. What I mean is that James isn't just a poet, he has anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Yay. Because high school isn't hard enough when you're just joking about wanting to kill yourself. And he hates his parents, which is apparently because his parents don't like him either. Or his sister, who they literally kicked out of the house for something James can't figure out. They never explained it to him, and he wasn't in the room. But then he finds this box in her closet and OH MY GOD THERE ARE KNIVES IN THERE and BLOOD and poems and stories about CUTTING HERSELF I AM HAVING UNWANTED FEELINGS RIGHT NOW.

Right. Well, now that that's out of the way, I should explain the title of the book. So, James clearly has some issues. So he decides he wants to see a therapist. But he doesn't want anyone to know he has a therapist. And even later on when he asks his parents, they don't want to pay for one. So instead, James makes a therapist for himself. In his mind. With imagination.

And his therapist he creates is human-sized pigeon named Doctor Bird. Doctor Bird is female, in case you were wondering. A giant, female, human-sized pigeon. Because... reasons. If I was going to make up a therapist for myself who wasn't human, I'd at least make it something interesting. Maybe something magical, like a dragon or unicorn? Or if it was a real animal, something exotic. Like a zebra. But a pigeon? That's so weird. Although maybe it makes sense, because James seems to be really close with nature. He literally hugs trees to shake off anxieties or depression, and he threw himself in front of a bus to save a bird with a hurt wing. That scene was interesting to read. I'm not even joking, it was hilarious. He wanted to impress a girl, so he jumped into the street and all of a sudden he says, "I think I've been hit by a bus!"

I started cracking up in the middle of Outback.
So basically, this book is not happy, but it is indeed funny. I actually really like it so far. And it's short, so I think I'll finish it soon. TTYL!