OCDaniel Books

EDGAR AWARD WINNER FOR BEST MYSTERY BANK STREET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SILVER BIRCH AWARD WINNER “Complex and satisfying. Written from Daniel’s point of view, this perceptive first-person narrative is sometimes painful, sometimes amusing, and always rewarding.” — Booklist (starred review) From the author of Incredible Space Raiders from Space! comes a brand-new coming-of-age story about a boy whose life revolves around hiding his obsessive compulsive disorder—until he gets a mysterious note that changes everything. Daniel is the back-up punter for the Erie Hills Elephants. Which really means he’s the water boy. He spends football practice perfectly arranging water cups—and hoping no one notices. Actually, he spends most of his time hoping no one notices his OCD habits—he calls them Zaps: avoiding writing the number four, for example, or flipping a light switch on and off dozens of times over. But everything changes when a girl at school, who is unkindly nicknamed Psycho Sara, notices him for the first time. She doesn’t just notice him: she seems to peer through him. Then Daniel gets a note: “I need your help,” it says, signed, Fellow Star Child—whatever that means. And suddenly Daniel, a total no one at school, is swept up in a mystery that changes everything for him. With great voice and grand adventure, this book is about feeling different and finding those who understand.

“Readers will appreciate [Sara] as good literary company even as they develop sympathy for her struggles.” — BCCB “It’s the vivid, insightful depiction of Sara’s internal struggles that readers will remember.” — Booklist “A must-buy.” — School Library Journal (starred review) In this prequel to the Edgar Award–winning OCDaniel , fan-favorite Sara quests for “normal” and finds something even better along the way. Sara’s Rules to be Normal 1. Stop taking your pills 19. Make a friend 137. Don’t put mayonnaise on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sara wants one thing: to be normal. What she has instead are multiple diagnoses from Dr. Ring. Sara’s constant battle with False Alarm—what she calls panic attacks—and other episodes cause her to isolate herself. She rarely speaks, especially not at school, and so she doesn’t have any friends. But when she starts group therapy she meets someone new. Talkative and outgoing Erin doesn’t believe in “normal,” and Sara finds herself in unfamiliar territory: at the movies, at a birthday party, and with someone to tell about her crush—in short, with a friend. But there’s more to Erin than her cheerful exterior, and Sara begins to wonder if helping Erin will mean sacrificing their friendship.