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Summary
Summary
The New York Times bestselling, BookTok sensation, deeply moving novel of friendship, first love, mental health, and belonging, perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces and The Summer of Broken Rules
If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.
Author Notes
Tamara Ireland Stone is the New York Times bestselling author of Every Last Word, Little Do We Know, Time and Time Again (a collection of her novels Time Between Us and Time After Time ), and the Click'd series. A former Silicon Valley marketing executive, she enjoys running, mountain biking, and spending time with her family. She lives just outside of San Francisco and invites you to visit her online at TamaraIrelandStone.com .
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Sam seems like any other 16-year-old girl. She enjoys competitive swimming, hanging out with her girlfriends, talking about boys, and going to concerts. But underneath the surface is a troubled teen who suffers from Purely Obsessional OCD. Her only respite comes when she meets Caroline, who introduces her to a secret poets' society. There she meets up with AJ, a boy from her past, and discovers a place where she can turn words into beautiful expressions and begins to discover her real self. Amy Rubinate narrates the story with a soft, smooth tone. Her voice is best suited for female characters but handles AJ's part appropriately. VERDICT Teens, and their parents, would benefit from listening to this treatment of life with a mental illness. ["While the beginning is slow and requires some suspension of disbelief, the climax and resolution are resounding enough to rise above any shadows of doubt": SLJ 6/15 review of the Hyperion book.]-Alice Davidson, Indianapolis, IN © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Stone (Time After Time) delves into the mind of an obsessive-compulsive teenager to explore how her mental disorder affects her relationships and interactions with the world. "Debilitating, uncontrollable" thoughts are nothing new for 16-year-old Samantha, but fearing rejection, she's kept her disability (and her treatment for it) secret from her popular friends. But now, intrigued by a group of offbeat poets, Samantha begins to want to open up and express herself. The secret room where the poets meet becomes her place of refuge. One member, Caroline, becomes her confidante, while another, A.J. (who Samantha bullied as a child), becomes a romantic interest. As Samantha is caught between conflicting loyalties to her old and new friends, she realizes that her perceptions may be distorted. Although it's somewhat hard to believe that none of Samantha's friends notice her obsessive patterns of thinking, her emotions-ranging from panic to insecurity and elation-are very real. The story's surprising climax will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Ages 12-up. Agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Having spent five years hiding her OCD from friends who value "normalcy and perfection," sixteen-year-old Sam discovers clandestine Poet's Corner, where she meets new friends she can trust, perhaps even with her secret. Thoughtful first-person narration uncovers challenges of life with OCD. Unfortunately, despite the acknowledgment that Sam's difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality isn't part of her OCD, it muddies the portrayal. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Spa days. VIP concert tickets. The envy of the girls in the lunchroom. Sixteen-year-old Samantha and her friends, the Crazy Eights, have it allat least, that's what Samantha has always let everyone believe. Nobody can know the real Sam, the crazy girl with OCD. If they found out, it would cost her everything. But when an unlikely new friend introduces Sam to a secret society of student poets, speaking her truth becomes increasingly appealing. While the novel gets off to a misleading start as Sam battles violent, obsessive thoughts that are unlike anything else she experiences in the rest of the story, Stone does offer readers a fresh take on OCD by focusing on Sam's internal struggle as opposed to the external behaviors that are typically associated with the disorder. Sam is an endearing protagonist readers will find familiar and enjoy rooting for. And while the Eights come off as flat, stereotypical cool girls, the oddball members of Poet's Corner are genuinely intriguing. With the exception of Caroline, who introduces Sam to the group, and AJ, Sam's new boyfriend, who are fully developed, readers, like Sam, will be left wishing they'd been allowed to get to know the rest of the crew better. Clueless meets Dead Poets Society with a whopping final twist. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Stone's third YA novel is a thoughtful romance with a strong message about self-acceptance. On the surface, Samantha McAllister has it all success in the pool as a competitive swimmer and a group of popular friends. But inside she struggles with a secret that she fears could unravel everything: her purely obsessional OCD. At the start of junior year, Sam meets Caroline, who helps her manage her obsessions and draws her into the secret Poet's Corner, where she meets AJ, whom she falls for hard, and who is equally falling for her. But now that she has found her tribe, does she need to keep up the ruse of being normal ? This sensitive novel boasts strong characterizations and conflicts that many teens will relate to. She deftly grounds Sam's OCD support system with both her mother and therapist and gives readers an endearing romantic lead to root for. A twist toward the end will surprise many readers, yet what follows falls perfectly in line with the story's hopeful message. Eminently readable.--Barnes, Jennifer Copyright 2015 Booklist
