Betrayed by the two people she trusted most-her man and her best friend-Amber Hayden can't help but compare her reaction to the erratic behavior of her schizophrenic mother. She doesn't like to admit it, but at the back of Amber's mind lurks a frightening thought: Will she wind up like her mother? The question stirs up memories of her childhood.

The year is 1963. Across the road from the Haydens' home lies Ms. Lola's house of ill repute, a center of gambling and prostitution in Amber's inner-city neighborhood in Washington, DC. And that's where Amber runs whenever her home life gets too much.

Amber tries to cling to some semblance of a normal life even as secrets pile up around her and her friends: Ms. Lola's talented son, Fats; her best friend, Chloe; and Fats's buddy Desi. These secrets cement Amber's friendship with Chloe but earn her Desi's hatred. When the secret forcing a wedge between Desi and Amber becomes too much for Desi to bear, he launches a potentially fatal scheme.

A touching coming-of-age story about growing up in the shadow of mental illness, Crazy Is as Crazy Does fearlessly tackles themes too long considered taboo.