January First - Schofield

January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her by Michael Schofield is the very sad story of a father trying desperately to save his daughter from an unseen, essentially uncontrollable disease.

January Schofield is a genius. Her IQ is rated at well over one hundred when she is just six years old. Her academic abilities are on par with high school students - smart ones. But, with this ability comes difficulty. She is barely able to sleep, keeping her parents running her all day just to tire her out. She constantly talks to her imaginary friends (400 the cat, 24 Hours the little girl, etc.), seemingly to entertain her herself since no one else can. She often retreats into her magical land of "Calalini", where the temperature increases right along with Janni's psychosis.

Shortly after Janni's parents have a second child, with hopes of producing a similarly brilliant child who can keep Janni engaged, Janni develops violent tendencies. Her imaginary friends tell her to hurt her brother, Bohdi, when he cries. They tell her to jump out of second story windows. They tell her she must hurt the family dog or they punish and hurt her. After many psychiatrist visits and several inpatient stays at local psychiatric hospitals, a diagnosis is finally made. Janni has child-onset schizophrenia, the worst possible outcome.  Both families have schizophrenia and mental illness in the background, it is therefore not a surprise.

This memoir is that of a father trying to save his child from a horrible situation over which he has no control. He is, of course, pushed to the edge. It is only his love for his child that keeps him fighting for, and with, Janni.This book tells about his struggle to finally achieve some hope for the future.

Overall this was an alright read, quick and entertaining. Sadly, or maybe appropriately, it makes the parents look pretty bad - Mom comes off as a whiner with anger control issues, Dad admits that he take antidepressants to actually control his anger and spends much of the book whining. Strange, but true. Ultimately, I think the book expresses the most important point well, that both parents love and support their daughter (and son) and want the best for her, as hard or unlikely as that seems at times.

2/5- Just okay.  Choose with extreme prejudice.