Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

     Katie O'

     The book I have chosen is Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone, a realistic fiction book. I know this is realistic fiction because the setting is California, a real place, and the characters seem so real and have real people problems. Samantha McAllister has Purely-Obsessional OCD, which causes her brain to always be moving and thinking, but most of the time her thoughts lead her down a dark spiral. She second-guesses every thing she does, and it doesn't help that her friends will turn on her the second she does something wrong. But is she crazy enough to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school? Even when she meets Caroline, her new friend with a unique sense of style and witty humor, she has to keep her secret from her 'friends' along with her weekly visits to her psychiatrist, Shrink-Sue. Caroline then introduces her to Poet's Corner, a hidden room where a close group of misfits and outcasts who have been ignored go to express themselves. Sam is immediately drawn to the people and the place, including a certain guitar playing guy with lots of talent, she starts to discover a new and better side of herself she didn't know she had. Slowly but surely, she becomes more 'normal' than she ever has in the popular crowd. Until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she hold dear. 

     This book is just so amazing, it is hard to explain. You can relate to Sam's insecurities and pressure. Even if you think it's not the best book you've ever read, you'll keep reading to find out how it ends. You get attached to the characters and feel for their problems, happiness, and downfalls. You wish you could meet these characters. You wish they were real and you could talk to them and ask them questions You see into the life of someone whose brain works differently than yours. It's an amazing experience to go through, now you kind of understand what people go through.