I found this books descriptions of experiencing OCD and anxiety very relatable, but I dont think its particularly successful as a story. The writing isnt great and a lot of the info about OCD is outdated, which is why I went with 2 instead of 3 stars. ( )

From a young age Tara is plagued with anxieties, worries and fear about all kinds of things, but it isn’t until she first hears the phrase “step on a crack, break your mother’s back,” that she increasingly performs bizarre rituals in order to help ease her anxieties. Her new friend Donna provides a distraction for awhile, but Tara gets worse and is continually misdiagnosed until her father’s friend figures out what’s happening and puts her in touch with his student Sam, another obsessive compulsive. Distressing but told with humor and hopefulness.

What an interesting story. Tara is a young girl with undiagnosed OCD she feels crazy and her family thinks she’s crazy and her behavior is causing them to go crazy.

This was a fascinating look into the mind of someone with OCD how awful it must be to have these compulsions .When Tara first hears ‘Step on a crack and break your mothers back’ it gets stuck in head and she cannot ever step on another crack and starts counting them.
The journey she goes on from there is so sad , her parents take her to doctor after doctor who continue to misdiagnose her everything from ADD, anger issues, and even anorexia because of the fact she has to line up all her food before she eats it.
She can’t leave the house without kissing each finger and touching each one to the doorknob 33 times when someone comes to the door she can’t stop to answer it but the man on the other side of the door ends up to be her salvation and she is finally given the correct diagnosis.

This is a work of fiction but is based on the authors own life. This is a must read for anyone who may know someone with OCD. ( )

At first, I found the book to be very disturbing, especially since the doctors couldn’t figure out what was going on with her. They kept misdiagnosing her. Finally when a friend of the family that is a teacher drops by and recognizes the symptoms are similar to a student in his class, they finally have a diagnosis. The end of the book sounds preachy because the author is trying to educate the reader about the disease. Starts out disturbing and ends up to be BORING!!
Maybe YA readers wouldn’t see it as boring as I did.