Total Constant Order
By Crissa-Jean Chappell
(Katherine Tegen Books, Hardcover, 9780060886059, 288pp.)
Publication Date: November 2007
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Library Binding
Categories: Family - Marriage & Divorce, Health & Daily Living - General, Social Issues - Friendship
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Fin can't stop counting. She's always heard a voice inside her head, ordering her to listen, but ever since she's moved to the Sunshine State and her parents split up, numbers thump like a metronome, rhythmically keeping things in control. When a new doctor introduces terms such as "clinical depression" and "OCD" and offers a prescription for medication, the chemical effects make Fin feel even more messed up. Until she meets Thayer, a doodling, rule-bending skater who buzzes to his own beat—and who might just understand Fin's hunger to belong, and her struggle for total constant order.
Crissa-Jean Chappell's candid and vividly told debut novel shares the story of a young teen's experience with obsessive compulsive disorder and her remarkable resolve to find her own inner strength.
Crissa-Jean Chappell's reviews, short stories, and poems have appeared in many magazines. A professor of creative writing, she lives in Miami, Florida, where she often looks for manatees. This is her first novel.
“Plenty of kids, OCD or not, will…find the exploration of disorder and identity thought-provoking.”
-Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“This must-have story is fresh. Chappell’s first novel is a breakthrough.”
-Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review)
“Likable characters and an intense pace.”
-School Library Journal
“Readers, especially those stuck with their own annoying rituals, will recognize the anger, the anxiety, and the longing for escape.”
-ALA Booklist
This book is on these lists:
crissa books by crissachappellLibrary_King09's Wish List by Library_King09
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