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January First: A Child’s Descent into Madness and Her Father’s Struggle to Save Her

Booksology October 23, 2025 Blog

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At age six, January (“Jani”) Schofield was diagnosed with one of the most severe cases of child-onset schizophrenia on record. Hallucinating constantly, she is at the mercy of her imaginary friends—some of whom are friendly, while others tell her to scream at strangers, jump out of buildings, and attack her baby brother. Jani is torn between two places: “Calalini,” the illusory home of her imaginary friends, and our world. When potent psychiatric drugs that would level most adults barely faze her, the line dividing delirium from reality grows dangerously blurry. 
   Amid Jani’s struggle are her parents, who face seemingly insurmountable obstacles daily just to keep both of their children alive and safe. Their battle has included a two-year search for answers, countless medications and hospitalizations, allegations of abuse, despair that almost broke the family apart and, finally, victories against the illness and a new faith that they can create a happy life for Jani. 
   A passionate and inspirational account, January First is a father’s soul-bearing memoir of the daily challenges and unwavering commitment to save his daughter from the edge of insanity while doing everything he can to keep his family together. 

Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 6, 2013
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 030771909X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307719096
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.19 x 0.73 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #354,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #38 in Schizophrenia (Books) #224 in Disability Biographies #4,175 in Memoirs (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,277 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });