A Tragic Kind of Wonderful

In the vein of It’s Kind of a Funny Story and All the Bright Places, comes a captivating, immersive exploration of life with mental illness.

For sixteen-year-old Mel Hannigan, bipolar disorder makes life unpredictable. Her latest struggle is balancing her growing feelings in a new relationship with her instinct to keep everyone at arm’s length. And when a former friend confronts Mel with the truth about the way their relationship ended, deeply buried secrets threaten to come out and upend her shaky equilibrium.

As the walls of Mel’s compartmentalized world crumble, she fears the worst–that her friends will abandon her if they learn the truth about what she’s been hiding. Can Mel bring herself to risk everything to find out?

In A Tragic Kind of Wonderful, Eric Lindstrom, author of the critically acclaimed Not If I See You First, examines the fear that keeps us from exposing our true selves, and the courage it takes to be loved for who we really are.

• Praise for A Tragic Kind of Wonderful:"The portrayal of Mel's bipolar disorder is nuanced and reads true to life. Her fear of rejection will be familiar to teenagers, whether they're acquainted with mental illness or not, making it an important gateway to self-acceptance and understanding of others. An intimate and affecting portrait of mental illness helmed by an achingly real protagonist."
  Kirkus Reviews
• "Lindstrom (Not If I See You First) deftly addresses life with bipolar disorder, as well as the internalized shame often felt by individuals with mental illness. Emotions run high as Lindstrom's story confronts mental illness, grief, and shame, but the optimistic resolution provides balance."
  Publishers Weekly
• "Lindstrom's compelling novel is rich in clinical detail, which is nicely integrated into the plot, ensuring the novel is never didactic but always dramatic...Readers will find Mel's story always absorbing and gain insight into her troubling disorder. Those who enjoy this fine novel will also enjoy Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places(2015)."
  Booklist
• "Mel's struggle to take her condition seriously without letting mental illness define her life is heart-rending."
  
  The Horn Book
• "An engaging and fast-moving plot that foregrounds Mel as a person who maintains a strong ethic of kindness even and especially when [she's] down, making her a bipolar poster child fully worthy of reader sympathy."
  BCCB