Calvin by Martine Leavitt

Calvin by Martine Leavitt
"Seventeen-year-old Calvin has always known his fate is linked to the comic book character from Calvin & Hobbes. He was born on the day the last strip was published; his grandpa left a stuffed tiger named Hobbes in his crib; and he even has a best friend named Susie. As a child Calvin played with the toy Hobbes, controlling his every word and action, until Hobbes was washed to death. But now Calvin is a teenager who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, Hobbes is back―as a delusion―and Calvin can't control him. Calvin decides that if he can convince Bill Watterson to draw one final comic strip, showing a normal teenaged Calvin, he will be cured. Calvin and Susie (and Hobbes) set out on a dangerous trek across frozen Lake Erie to track him down."- summary from Amazon

This was such an interesting, quick read and I loved the parallels to Calvin and Hobbies, which is one of my favorite comic strips. This is such a beautifully written book and I enjoyed getting to know Calvin and Susie throughout the course of the book, and seeing where their adventure takes them. The story is emotional but also very funny; I was laughing quite a bit at various parts of the book that are very sarcastic. Calvin is of course an unreliable narrator, due to his schizophrenia diagnosis, which is always intriguing to read and Leavitt does a great job making him a real character just trying his best to understand and deal with his situation, grasping onto whatever straws he can.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.