Undoing Crazy

by Colette D. Winlock

What does it look like to give up hope and hold on to it at the same time? Undoing Crazy presents Carla Sinclair, 46, a dutiful daughter to Eve Sinclair, a loyal friend to Dana Washington and a dedicated teacher at Fredrick Douglass Middle School. Lately, Carla’s grown tired of it all, there’s an emptiness and ache in her heart—she questions whether she should live—or not. Carla believes no one cares what she wants, not her mama, not her best friend, not even the fine brother she meets at the Lucky Lounge. Only a young audacious spoken word performer named Queen has the ability to truly see Carla and her troubles. Set in the bed of political activism known as Oakland, California, Undoing Crazy is full of culture and truths learned from unexpected places.

318 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you fix crazy?

This book had an integrating title and I was intrigued because I see so few books recommended that deal directly with the primary issues in the black community that are avoided like a plague. We do not discuss mental illness. Racism in education. Our history as a family. This book takes on all three and makes me smile, cry, frown, laugh, sit up straight and fall back in my chair. All in the same chapter.

This book is inspirational and grounding. I feel like there's so many things I learned about myself by reading about Cas, Dana, David, and all the people they know. Please. Read this book.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this book is so good. It is like a stream of consciousness where the narrator finally makes a breakthrough and is able to finally express her emotions while understanding where they came from. Every white person should read this book.

[Gemini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow and sad