How To Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Sex and Teenage Confusion

Gr 9 Up—To know that one can help ease symptoms of clinical depression by eating healthy foods, exercising, getting enough sun and fresh air, and being more social is of very little use. Like most who have depression, Burton's adolescent self was unable to take the first steps toward these beneficial habits. He couldn't work out how to be comfortable just letting things come to him over time and through experience. Through the course of this memoir, Burton retraces the myriad identities he assumed over his teen years: nerdy Dave, crazy drama Dave, gay Dave, relationship-obsessed Dave, and full-blown dysfunctional depressed Dave. Life experience, as for most teens, brought awkwardness and heartache. Luckily, Burton was not one to hide from the world. His willingness to take chances awakened his interest in the theater, taught him the value of friendship, and gave him an appreciation for the difficult task his parents had raising him and his younger twin brothers, both of whom have Asperger's syndrome. True to the subtitle, Burton is frank but sensitive about how he came to understand sex and his sexuality.