'A thoughtful romance with a strong message about self-acceptance, this] sensitive novel boasts strong characterizations and conflicts that many teens will relate to. 'This book is highly recommended-readers will connect with Sam, relating to her anxiety about her peers, and root for her throughout the book.'. until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear. Slowly, she begins to feel more 'normal' than she ever has as part of the popular crowd. 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. 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.Ĭaroline 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. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. 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. 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.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Every last word stone