How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When SkyMusic had gotten clawed up by a raccoon and been in godawful pain from his infected wounds, I'd broken down—I had sworn I'd never spend a dime on those cats, but he was suffering so bad—and taken him to the vet myself, and Mom had screamed at me all that night about it, and taken SkyMusic's painkillers for herself and flushed his antibiotics down the toilet because all he needed were herbs and love. (1.15)
In this particular situation, we're pretty sure Beth wasn't the only person acting insane. Poor SkyMusic probably wasn't feeling real with it mentally, either. The fact that the cat's name is SkyMusic also probably added insult to injury.
Quote #2
I guess up until just a few years before Paul and me went into it, there wasn't much mental health care in schools […] When I asked Dad why I had to go to a shrink, back in fourth grade, he told me Mr. Knauss, Paul's dad, had worked really hard to get school psychologists into the budget, which was good enough for me right there. Then he leaned forward and looked me right in the eye and added, "Karl, we are finally advanced enough to admit some kids need help and provide it for them." (Which told me I was one of those kids.) (1.51-52)
Child psychology isn't really one of our specialties here at Shmoop, but we will say this—a big problem with Lightsburg's therapy program is that they seem to be offering help for these kids out of obligation rather than because they believe there's a genuine need. Because they're trying to be "advanced" rather than helping the students, their motives have always been skewed. This probably explains why the relationships among the Madmen themselves have done more good for them than the parade of therapists they've had.
Quote #3
Once you were in, they put a note in your file that said you were in therapy, and all your teachers saw that file. They might as well have tattooed CRAZY on your forehead. The next year every teacher would be watching you for the first weird thing you did—and has there ever been a kid who never does anything an adult considers weird? (1.56)
Another problem is that the teachers—who probably have less professional psychology experience than we do at Shmoop—pick the kids who belong in the program based on a hazy scale of weirdness. Which is dumb because teenagers are weird, so by this logic, the whole school should be one giant Madman Underground.