by Tamara Ireland Stone
Book: Stand Alonw
Publisher: DisneyHyperion
Pub Date: June 2015
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Print
Source: Borrowed
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
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.
My Review: Tamara took a tough subject and came out with an amazing story. Sam has some issues. Does things in three, has not so great thoughts, and well just has a harder time with things. She has been doing well for a while.
Then things start to get a bit too much for Sam again. A trip to the spa for her friend's birthday should be a good thing. But sadly, she couldn't make it through the whole day. She is part of the crazy 8's and well its down a few members right now. But things aren't the same with that either. Sam is just not feeling it and right now, swimming is what's making her happy. So thats her focus this year. Get through school and swim.
Then Sam sorta finds a new friend and some place she belongs. When she meets Caroline, they click and have things in common. So they help each other out. Caroline shows Sam this secret room in the school. Where they do poetry and its the perfect place for her. Caroline even comes over to Sams house and they get to talking.
After about half way through the book, you see a change in Sam. She how far she has come, and what happens to the other characters. Its a well written story and I really love Tamara's work. She is an amazing author and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
My Rating
✪✪✪✪
