Michael

In this updated second edition, available only as an audiobook, Randye Kaye tells listeners, in the introduction and epilogue, about what happened in the decade after the initial release of Ben Behind His Voices. Yes, Ben is still here, still living real-life "Chutes and Ladders". When we first meet Ben, he's a sweet, intelligent, seemingly well-adjusted youngster. Fast forward to his teenage years and Ben's life has spun out of control. He's swept along by an illness over which he has no control—one that results in homelessness, hospitalizations, and finally a diagnosis.

In an idyllic Los Angeles neighborhood, where generations enjoy deep roots in old homes, the O’Rourke family fits right in. Miriam and Craig are both artists and their four children carry on the legacy. When their teenage son, Nick, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, a tumultuous decade ensues in which the family careens off the conventional course. Like the 10 Biblical plagues, they are hit by one catastrophe after another: violence, evictions, arrests, a suicide attempt, a near-drowning - even cancer and a brain tumor - play against the backdrop of a wild teenage bacchanal.

In his early 20s, Mindy Greiling's son, Jim, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder after experiencing delusions that demanded he kill his mother. At the time, and for more than a decade after, Greiling was a Minnesota state legislator who struggled, along with her husband, to navigate and improve the state's inadequate mental health system. Fix What You Can is an illuminating and frank account of caring for a person with a mental illness, told by a parent and advocate.