The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

Reviewed by: Brooke Faulkner - McArthur Public Library, Biddeford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 6, 2015

Review

From the moment fourteen-year-old Adam meets Robyn in their support group for teens with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), he knows she's the one for him. They grow closer as they and their peers in the group playfully don superhero personas (he becomes "Batman" to Robyn's "Robin"), visit Adam's church looking for spiritual support and begin to learn more about each person's specific issues. However, for Adam, his secrets include his mother's hoarding and a series of anonymous, hateful letters she's been receiving - both hugely stress-producing and things his mom has forbidden him to talk about. This poignant debut novel is both an honest and nuanced portrayal of a young person's struggle with OCD and a warmly real first love story. Adam is a likable narrator and his interactions with his wise and supportive therapist and his family, particularly with his adoring younger half-brother, are sweetly funny. His internal monologues, often punctuated with compulsive prime number counting and bitterly self-deprecating thoughts, are palpable in their anxiety. Fans of other realistic fiction like The Fault In Our Stars, Say What You Will, and Eleanor and Park will fall easily for these characters.

Overall Book Score: excellent