Other editions of book Crazy Lady!

Maxine, short and stocky, with her dark glasses and strange hat and weaving walk, was called the crazy lady. Ronald, with his eyes open wide and his mouth always parted as if he were about to speak, was her son with special needs. Vernon and his friends would agitate them until they put on a kind of show. But then Vernon gets to know them and he sees what their life is really like. He spends an afternoon helping them straighten out their ramshackle house, picking up their littered yard; and sits with Ronald while he watches Lassie and Mickey Mouse Club. And he begins to understand this mother's fierce love for her son, his own loss, and the unexpected strength he finds within this odd little family.

Increasingly alienated from his widowed father, Vernon joins his friends in ridiculing the neighborhood outcasts'Maxine, an alcoholic prone to outrageous behavior, and Ronald, her retarded son. But when a social service agency tries to put Ronald into a special home, Vernon fights against the move.1994 Newbery Honor BookNotable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA)1994 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)1994 Young Adult Editors' Choices (BL)1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)Young Adult Choices for 1995 (IRA)

Maxine, short and stocky, with her dark glasses and strange hat and weaving walk, was called the "crazy lady." Ronald, with his eyes open wide and his mouth always parted as if he were about to speak, was her son with special needs. Vernon and his friends would agitate them until they put on a kind of show.But then Vernon gets to know them and see what their life is really like. He spends an afternoon helping them straighten out their ramshackle house, picking up their littered yard; and sits with Ronald while he watches Lassie and Mickey Mouse Club. And he begins to understand this mother's fierce love for her son, his own loss, and the unexpected strength he finds within this odd little family.