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Every Last Word

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

"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 the 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.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 20, 2015
      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.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Amy Rubinate invites listeners to enter the inner and outer worlds of 16-year-old Samantha McAllister. Rubinate conveys Sam's anxiety as she curries favor with a clique-ish set of friends and their mean-girl leader. She dramatizes Sam's inner struggles as she hides her compulsive behaviors, finding her stress relieved only by competitive swimming and comforting discussions with her therapist. Sam's life begins to change on the first day of her junior year when a mysterious student introduces her to the Poet's Corner, a secret room where student share poetry and music. There Sam finds artistic freedom, love, friendship--and a problem more frightening than any she's faced before. Rubinate's characterizations and a surprising ending enhance this story. S.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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