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Inside Out | 
 enlarge | Author: Terry Trueman
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.25
You Save: $4.74 (59%)
New (35) Used (15) from $0.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 70200
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.8 x 0.4
ISBN: 0064473767
EAN: 9780064473767
ASIN: 0064473767
Publication Date: November 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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+
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Trueman Has Done It Again!! January 25, 2008
I was very excited to read "Inside Out" based on Terry Trueman's two other books. I very much enjoyed this one as much as the other two, "Cruise Control" and "Stuck In Neutral."
"Inside Out" is the tale of two teenagers, Alan (Frosty) and Joey (Stormy) who attempt to rob the coffee shop where Zach, a sixteen-year-old scizhophrenic is waiting for his mom. The two robbers, who have robbed the store to help their cancerous mother who has very pricey medication, find themselves in trouble when the police arrive before they can escape.
The characters were very well developed, even those who had a miniscule three to four lines, such as the fat suit, a heavier man of the nine hostages. I also enjoyed the dialogue. Silly as some of the things said might have been, it was very enjoyable.
I especially liked the part where Zach, out of his own control, almost accidentally blurts out something to his doctor, who was called to the scene of the hostage situation by Zach, with the policemen possibly able to hear. It was very suspenseful.
Also, when Zach and the robbers are about to make their escape, and the two characters, Dirtbag and Rat are haunting Zach, the description Terry Trueman gives is very eerie and disturbing. Afterwards, it's very, very suspenseful.
"Inside Out" is a very quick read (I finished it today, started it today), but it is a very riveting and very suspensefully humurous tale. It is a definite must-read for those of you who enjoyed Terry Trueman's first books.
Good Idea, Poor Vehicle July 2, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Terry Trueman's 117-page YA novel, INSIDE OUT, is a good idea in that it seeks to show young readers what the inside of a teenaged schizophrenic's mind might feel like; the bad idea is the vehicle he chooses to show it with -- an unrealistic hold-up of a coffee shop by 17 and 14-year-old brothers who just want to help their cancer-stricken mother with money.
In the fiction business, the term "suspension of disbelief" has to do with the reader's willingness to go along with the situation provided by the author, to give the fiction writer the benefit of the doubt if he pushes it a bit in the realism department. Trueman probably goes too far here, as the two kids seem too young and too nice to hold up a coffee joint (of all places) to "do good" for their dying mother.
Getting past that, the book is entertaining and interesting for its dialogue and insight into the brain of people tortured by the voices of such mental illnesses as schizophrenia. Zach seems nonplussed by all the gun brandishing of brothers Alan (a.k.a. "Frosty") and Joey (a.k.a. "Stormy). He just doesn't get it. And his steady stream of non sequiturs comes across as funny, only they're (of course) not.
Throughout the hostage situation we get to know the "criminals" a bit. Older brother Alan is a sympathetic sort who shows genuine compassion for Zach. Younger brother Joey is more of a hot-headed type -- the sort of kid who frequently refers to Zach as a "retard" (a term Zach is very familiar with from school).
The novella has its share of profanity, but it only lends a realistic touch to the dialogue in such a situation. High marks go to INSIDE OUT for shedding some light on a medical condition few young readers know about. Like Mark Haddon's more ambitious THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, Trueman's book provides a point of view seldom seen and thus much in need. It's too bad some readers will be put off by the "This could never happen with THESE characters in REAL life..." aspect of the plot.
Very well done May 18, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Trueman does an excellent job showing the world through the eyes of a boy with schizophrenia while simultaneously allowing the reader to see how his illness affects his thinking process and, in turn, his actions. Trueman takes his readers to a place they have never, and hopefully will never, be. It gives the reader a greater sensitivity to mental illness and its effects.
I didn't so much, "enjoy," this book as I truly appreciated it. I wouldn't say it was a fun read, - the tone was to serious for, "fun," - but it is absolutely a good read.
Very good.
 Inside Out October 9, 2006
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
My son thought this book was great. He especially enjoyed all the swearing.
 Attempts to have young people understand schizophrenia August 1, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's a quick read, only about a hour. It's fast paced so reluctant teen readers will probably finish it. I think the author did a good job making Zach likable and someone to have sympathy for having this horrible mental illness. I found myself just as interested or more so in Alan, the kindly older thief. I didn't want him tried as an adult since what he really wanted to do is help his mother buy medicine she needed. I wonder if Alan taken away the attention from the main character since Alan in some ways more interesting than Zach.
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