Head Case

by Sarah Aronson

ONE MISTAKE. ONE BAD NIGHT. ONE TOO MANY DRINKS. A powerful and heartbreaking debut novel about a guy who had it all...until he drank that fifth beer and got into the car. Frank Marder is a head, paralyzed from the neck down, and it's his fault. He was drinking. He was driving. Now Frank can't walk, he can't move, he can't feel his skin. He needs someone to feed him, to wash him, to move his body. But if you ask most of the people who are posting on www.quadkingonthenet, he hasn't been adequately punished. Two people are dead because of him. Frank should go to jail. Only "Annonymous" disagrees.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, High School, Death, Fiction, Disability, Drama

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2007

About the author

Sarah Aronson began writing for kids and teens when someone in an exercise class dared her to try. Since then, she has earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

She loves working with writers at The Highlights Foundation and writers.com.

Her books include:
Head Case
Beyond Lucky
Believe
The Wish List series, and
Just Like Rube Goldberg--winner of the Crystal Kite (Midwest)!

Brand New Bubbe arrives Aug 23!
Find out more: http://www.saraharonson.com.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a boy who drives drunk, has an accident, and his life is changed forever. Some might even say "ruined." It's kind of a claustrophobic book to read because he is so trapped. He can't do anything for himself. Well, he can talk and blink and chew. That's not the worst it could have been, but once you lose your limbs, it's basically over.

This is a quick read, but still emotional. It's a strange feeling to hope someone kills the main character, or he magically dies -- not because I hate him, but for his own good.

Maybe I should hate him, but I don't. My husband was injured by a drunk driver as a child. He is a paraplegic, somewhere between Freeberg and Frank: he can't walk, but he can use his arms. I told him what this book was about, and he insisted that I should not feel sorry for Frank, that Frank is an asshole who got what he deserved. I get that, but I also get the idea of making a horrible mistake even though you're not a bad or dumb person, truly, so I still feel a little sorry for him.

But then, if Frank hadn't been so badly injured, he definitely would have ended up in prison, which would probably have been just as bad. And then I wouldn't have felt sorry for him at all. So, I don't know, maybe I shouldn't feel bad for him.

The ending... I don't know. I mean, it was a good ending, very realistic, but it almost seems like a cliche to have him parade himself around as a warning to others. I feel like so many people do that when they make mistakes, but, like Frank himself said, when the weekend comes, nobody will remember, and it'll happen again sooner or later. And yet, I guess, what else is he supposed to do with himself? I suppose there aren't many more options for him.

Anyway, the writing was sharp, Frank's voice was clear and acerbic at times (but rightfully so), and the flashbacks were revealed at a nice pace. This read was well worth the time.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent enough book. However, one thing I couldn't stand was that the author was trying to pin the detractors online as "bad" and "judgemental." But they were RIGHT. Our main character killed two people because of his own stupid mistake. While I don't think he should have gone to jail, I have no sympathy for what happens to someone who drinks while driving and commits vehicular manslaughter.

[Karissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good cautionary tale book about drinking and driving. Frank's character was believable, considering his new situation. He was surly but at the same time you couldn't help but feel horrible for him.
After a horrible car accident Frank is left a quadriplegic, and his girlfriend is dead. He cannot feel anything beneath his head, and he can't even really move that on his own. Many people in town think he doesn't deserve to live, that he should spent the rest of his life in jail since he was drinking and driving. But they don't understand that Frank is living in his own hell. He can't even drink a Coke without having someone around to place the straw in/near his mouth. He has a motorized wheelchair that he controls with his chin. His chin!

When you first start to read this book, Frank doesn't seem like an appealing character. But after you learn the truth of that night, you can't help but feel bad for the guy. He'd been a stand up guy until he had met his girlfriend, who was a crazy party girl and out of his league anyway. The only reason he'd been drinking in the first place was because she was flitting and flirting with another dude because she was a hoe bag. Though I did find it totally disgusting that they were keeping condoms. Ewww!!

At the end he was slowly accepting himself, and he was showing himself to the world. Showing people that even good kids like him who drink themselves drunk only ONE time can end up a quadriplegic.

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

main character spends half the book feeling sorry for himself and agonizing over his lost sex life, feel good ending. blah

[Robin Korb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Watching as Frank, a seventeen-year-old high-school senior, adjusts to being a quadriplegic because of the poor choices he made is very moving. Frank must learn to forgive himself for drinking and driving. He must learn to live with the disability he caused by being drunk. And he must learn to be visible to the world around him, even when that means dealing with the knowledge that he killed two people in the accident. There is no happily-ever-after in this book, and that's what makes it so good.

[Thea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a GREAT book. I loved it so much. I think that it did a great job of going into detail to the point that you can visualize it in your mind. It was a short read compared to my normal but it was a good quick read on my road trip. I loved being able to pick it up and not want to put it down till it was done. I would recommend this to anyone who loves successful tragedies. It was a tearjerker but the end was AMAZING. I was so surprised the last page was a ultimate plot turner and was a great ending.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank kills his two best friends while drinking and driving; then is ostracized on social media. Good read!

[Emerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really made me think about situations in other points of views. I definitely recommend it.

[Nicole]

Cautionary drunk driving tale. My kids we read this before starting Drivers Ed

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a first novel, this is not bad at all. I actually enjoyed it. I gave it 3 stars because I wanted more. I felt like it was predictable, slow moving, minor characters are mentioned and forgotten. Overall, it felt like this would make a great movie to warn people against drunk driving. Once I started reading the book from that perspective, I enjoyed it much more. The long pauses, the stares from people, the struggles in adjusting to home, that nightmares that Frank had, it all was much more vivid once I started thinking of the book as an outline for a movie.

Frank's character was believable, the tragedy behind his situation was plausible. I really liked the fact that he was a genuinely good guy before his girlfriend and that one night of jealousy and drinks led him to a bad decision. I had recommended the health teacher in my school to use Frank's speech/story he gave at the end of the book because she needed a reading/literacy piece to incorporate into her curriculum.
Overall, while the story was predicable and I was really bored at times, it was a good read and I liked Frank's story. Definitely one I would recommend to my older students to caution them against drinking.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Julie M. Prince for TeensReadToo.com

Frank Marder lost control.

First of his car, then of his body. Now he's stuck -- trapped inside a body that's failed him. He can't move his legs. He can't move his arms. As a "head," it seems all Frank can do is think.

Unfortunately, thinking is the last thing a guy who killed two people wants to do.

HEAD CASE follows the post-rehab life of a quadriplegic in his first weeks home after a devastating drunk driving accident resulting in the death of his girlfriend and of a man he'd never met. Frank not only has to deal with the fact that he'll never walk or feed himself again, but that the whole town hates him and thinks he should be in jail.

Little do they know, he already is.

A scary, thought-provoking glimpse at life without control.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

One too many drinks and Frank Marder's life is forever changed. Coming home he gets in a car crash...killing his girlfriend, his friend, and Frank...is paralyzed from the neck down. A senior in high school and his entire life is in the toilet...to him. Hes being villafied on a blog website by every one in the town for killing two inocent people, he can no longer do anything a noraml kid can do: he has to be cleaned, fed, and put to bed. Even his family secrets of unfaithfullness begin to show because of what has happened to him. But there seems to be one person who titled "Anonymous" feels that Frank should not be condemed for something he also paid for. Sarah Aronson has a great theme for her first book but althoguh very interesting the story is slow and the point made at the conclusion is not very overwhelming which it should be with a story of this magnitude.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got lots from this book by Sarah Aronson. Structurally very interesting with lots of flashback to fill in the steps leading to Frank's horrible car accident, which was completely Frank's fault for drinking and driving. The accident killed people and left Frank in a wheelchair without use of his arms and legs. I felt like I was in the chair with Frank while I read and it was terrifying. Sarah obviously knows the real details of life in a wheelchair - the challenges of learning to steer with no arms, what happens when your mom isn't paying attention and doesn't remember she needs to actually bring the drink to your lips instead of just leaving it on the tray in front of you, even just being transferred from the chair to bed. As I already said, terrifying. The twist at the end added some much needed hope to the story. This should be required reading before getting a license.

[Ariel Uppstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book. It dealt with really difficult subjects, drunk driving, teen death, and disabilities. The way that Aronson wrote about Frank (the main character's) experience was very captivating. I enjoyed the back and forth between the past and present events. I also respected the way she didn't gloss over the frustration Frank felt at being taken away from his body at such a young age. The fact that she discussed his sexual frustrations and guilt was realistic and poignant. It was also impressive how she discussed family tension after such events. Everyone in a family is affected by an event such as the one discussed, and people deal with it in all different ways. I really enjoyed this novel and the problems the characters faced.

[Joshua McBean]

This book was very sad. It was about a teenager named Frank who was drinking and driving with his girlfriend, they then go into a car accident when a old man crossed the street. He killed the man and rolled the car over several times and his girlfriend, Merideth was ejected from the car. After the crash he woke up in the hospital, paralyzed from the neck down. He can't move and musle and many hate him because he killed her. Frank never meant to do this it just happened. Some people understand that it was a mistake. Others believe he belongs in jail, but he is in jail because he can't move any part of his body. He wants to make things right after physical therapy. Read this book its in the library.

[Brandonries · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting... This guy was at a party with his girlfriend and he was really drunk and he and his girlfriend try to leave the party still very drunk yet and they end up getting in a crash killing his girlfriend, paralyzing him from the neck down so he can't feel anything from his head down and killing the guy that he hit. Now he is in a really weird wheelchair. But the part that I thought was really strange was the cops didn't put him in jail the cops said "if he is paralyzed from the neck down that is punishment enough" and I agree with the cops for saying that because if you paralyzed from the neck down I that would be enough of a punishment and he spent pretty close to 6 to 7 months in the hospital so he has all those hospital bills to pay too.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find this interesting I know a PT wrote it but I find it applicable to my future profession as well. It is an interesting perspective I have never seen tackled before. I think this book could have been longer I would have liked to see more development of the story line. I think this was a very interesting perspective but I would have liked to have seen more resolution, it was just too short. It also was all over the place in the past, in the present, at the end I still had a lot more questions. I hope teens will read it and realize that bad decisions like drinking and driving can have very real horrific consequences. I also found in funny that is OT was a little bit of a flake.

[Levi Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book a young man named Frank Marder, is in a drunken car accident. Which happens to kill a old man walking across the street, and his girlfriend. Frank survives, but is he really alive? He is paralyzed from the neck down.


That is what the book is about. This is my opinion. It is a very sad book, meaning it isn't meant to enlighten your heart about the good people can have after becoming paralyzed. Also to note-This book features swearing,sexual content, and some violence. However, I feel it really does make us look inside ourselves to think about what would happen if we all just drank a little less, partied shorter, and called a cab.

[Amy Potts Ostrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this one can't go on my middle school shelf, I would recommend it to high schoolers both reluctant readers and avid readers and everyone in between. Frank, the main character, is a kid high schoolers should be able to relate to--a relatively good teen who makes a bad choice one night, and it leaves him paralyzed from the neck down, and an accused murderer by many in the community. Aronson does a spectacular job of leaving the preaching out of the book, though, making Head Case a likely candidate to actually reach kids of Frank's age without seeming like a grown-up lecturing about drunk driving. Well done.

[Damera Blincoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Frank Marder who drives his car from a party one day drunk and kills two people, his girlfriend and an old man. The story begins with Frank in the hospital and what happens in the days and weeks after the accident. What I liked about this book is it got straight to the consequences of drinking and driving. Frank has to deal with the aftermath of this accident. This is a perfect book for teenagers who are just receiving their drivers licenses. It tells them what not to do.

[Elaine Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank is a quadriplegic, or as he thinks of himself, a head. His drunk driving caused an accident which killed his girlfriend and an old man on the street and left him paralyzed. It is a very eye-opening book about what it would be like to exist as just a head. But the part that really stuck with me was when Frank said that the world should allow for a cosmic do-over. What would you go back and do over in your life?

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started forty five minutes ago, Placed the book down a minute ago. Only got through about 60 pages before I had enough.
In almost every single chapter, it went on and on about the same thing: the main character regretting his actions, mourning over not being able to have a sex life. And... I'm just getting tired of it. I wanted to like this book but unfortunately, it feels like a chore to read this. I'll abandon this book for now.

[Trevor Oakley · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a drunk-driving accident, two people are dead and 17-year-old Frank, is, well, "a head." He is a quadrapolegic, a survivor, and based on that, the people in his town clamor to see him punished further. As a survivor, Frank has to decide how he must live as this short novel takes us through eight weeks of Frank's post-accident life.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

gives the reader insight into what it would be like to go from being able-bodied to becoming quadriplegic, without being overly didactic. in fact, i'm still trying to decide if i even liked the protagonist. it also doesn't shy away from the sex talk, which you know teens (well, all of us) wonder about.

[Librariann]

Ages 14+ (sex, language, drinking) Successfully incorporates the hyperconnected world of the net with teen gossip to the story of a boy who is only a "head" - a complete quadriplegiac after a car accident which also leaves his girlfriend and another man dead. Pair with Susan Vaught's "Trigger" for a severe injury as a result of life choices.

[Karen Barba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nook talks about how a very young man went to a party with his suppose girlfriend, they got in an arguement left the party drunk, the young man was driving furious and killed to people which were his girlfriend and some old guy walking in the street. Now the young man is paralyzed from his neck down.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank has plenty of time to think about the fact that he killed two people because he chose to get behind the wheel after having a few too many beers. Now his pseudo-girlfriend and a neighbor are dead because of his actions. Yes, he is a quadriplegic and will never be able to do anything for himself.

But there are people who disagree...

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sad and quick read. The book took me a couple of hours to read. Pretty good book overall, but I wasn't expecting the main character to be making so many sexual references. I wished it would have told you more about his life, about as he got older.... that kind of thing. But it was a pretty good book, I would recommend it to someone looking for a quick read.

[Matt Franks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who went to a party with his girlfriend. They got in an arguement and left the party drunk. The boy drove furiously and killed his girlfriend and another guy walking in the street. Now Frank is paralazed from the neck down and lives his life telling his sotry. i recomend this book to anyone who could relate to it.

[Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting, I also thought it was an entertaining book and made me keep on reading. It talks about what he thought and those kind of things. He gets paralyzed because he was drunk when he was driving and he ended up killing his girlfriend, I would rate this book a 8 out of 10