Every Last Word

Product Description New York Times Bestseller Northern California Book Award Shortlist Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist NCIBA Golden Poppy Award Winner Cybils Young Adult Fiction Award Winner Georgia Peach Book Award Winner Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Teens' Top Ten Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) Teen Reads Top Ten South Carolina Young Adult Book Award NomineeIf 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. From School Library Journal Gr 8 Up—Sixteen-year-old Sam spends her summers training at the private club pool, working to earn the county title and a college scholarship. Her school-year counterpart, Samantha, is tied to a toxic group of popular besties-for-life, trying to keep her Purely Obsessional OCD a secret. Running with a crowd who takes hostile notice of every social misstep, every misapplied bit of makeup, and any move that is less than normal, keeping her diagnosis a secret is not easy. Out of the blue, Samantha meets Caroline, who introduces her to a secret society called the Poet's Corner. Slowly, Samantha begins to discover how she can remain Sam and be true to herself outside of summer and the pool, and even trust the cute musician AJ enough to fall in love with him. Just when Sam begins to feel confident in herself, the very thing that helped her feel normal is what ultimately makes her question her sanity. Approached in a very respectful and informative manner, this story of coming to terms with a difficult diagnoses and being less-than-normal is in no way didactic. 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. VERDICT While the story's romance falls almost too easily into place, this title will do well in libraries where Sarah Dessen and Stephanie Perkins are in high demand.—Brittany Staszak, St. Charles Public Library, IL Review "Clueless meets Dead Poets Society with a whopping final twist." - Kirkus Reviews "A thoughtful romance with a strong message about self-acceptance, [this] sensitive novel boasts strong characterizations and conflicts that many teens will relate to. Eminently readable." - Booklist "A brilliant and moving story about finding your voice, the power of words, and true friendship. I couldn't put it down " - Elizabeth Eulberg, Author of The Lonely Hearts Club "Brilliant, brave, and beautiful." - Kathleen Caldwell, A Great Good Place for Books "A riveting story of love, true friendship, self-doubt and self-confidence, overcoming obstacles, and truly finding oneself." - Melanie Koss, Professor of Young Adult Literature, Northern Illinois University "Romantic, unpredictable, relatable, and so very enjoy