Every Last Word

by Tamara Ireland Stone

Overview

The New York Times bestseller everyone is talking about.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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484723647
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	77
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tamara Ireland Stone (www.TamaraIrelandStone.com) is also the author of Little Do We Know and Time and Time Again, a collection of her two novels Time Between Us and Time After Time, as well as the New York Times bestseller Every Last Word. A former Silicon Valley marketing executive, she enjoys skiing, hiking, and spending time with her family. She lives just outside of San Francisco.

Editorial Reviews

04/20/2015
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. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Clueless meets Dead Poets Society with a whopping final twist."—Kirkus Reviews

"This book is highly recommended-readers will connect with Sam, relating to her anxiety about her peers, and root for her throughout the book." —VOYA

"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 enjoyable."—Arnold Shapiro, Oscar- and Emmy-winning Producer

"Characters to love and a story to break your heart. Readers will want to turn page after page and read every last word. Then do it all over again."—Marianne Follis, Teen Librarian, Valley Ranch (Irving) Public Library

From the Publisher

06/01/2015
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

School Library Journal

2015-04-01
Spa days. VIP concert tickets. The envy of the girls in the lunchroom. Sixteen-year-old Samantha and her friends, the Crazy Eights, have it all—at least, that's what Samantha has always let everyone believe. Nobody can know the real Sam, the crazy girl with OCD. If they found out, it would cost her everything. But when an unlikely new friend introduces Sam to a secret society of student poets, speaking her truth becomes increasingly appealing. While the novel gets off to a misleading start as Sam battles violent, obsessive thoughts that are unlike anything else she experiences in the rest of the story, Stone does offer readers a fresh take on OCD by focusing on Sam's internal struggle as opposed to the external behaviors that are typically associated with the disorder. Sam is an endearing protagonist readers will find familiar and enjoy rooting for. And while the Eights come off as flat, stereotypical cool girls, the oddball members of Poet's Corner are genuinely intriguing. With the exception of Caroline, who introduces Sam to the group, and AJ, Sam's new boyfriend, who are fully developed, readers, like Sam, will be left wishing they'd been allowed to get to know the rest of the crew better. Clueless meets Dead Poets Society with a whopping final twist. (Fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews