We met last evening on Wednesday, March 19, to discuss Teresa Toten's Governor General Award Winner The Unlike Hero of Room 13B.  Adam Spencer Ross, the main character who suffers from OCD, was deemed by some of the mothers and daughters to be beyond-his-years in maturity, but most of us attributed that to his home life and his malady.

We were all intrigued by Adam's Lists that he gives to his doctor Chuck as a effort towards dealing with his OCD.  Lying, liars and lies were central to Adam's lists as he tried to cover up his OCD and his mother's mental illness.  "Everybody lies, son.  Everybody."  Teresa Toten has a great website, you can check it out here.

So of course we had to play "Two Lies and a Truth" at Book Club.  There were lots of laughs as we voted on which 3 Facts stated by our members were lies or truths.  We had some skilled liars among us!    And some exciting personal facts:
One mom had once played hockey with Wayne Gretzky.  And almost met JFK Jr.!
One daughter was born in an examining room.
One mom did not run away at age 15, but did still play with Barbies at age 13.
One mom was not in a rock band.
One daughter was not born in Moscow, but her mom did once write for the Toronto Star.

Thanks to Sofia for an excellent tip on a short film called Mr. Hublot, which features a steam-punk world, a lonely man with OCD and a charming dog.  The lonely man trying to save the little dog reminded us of Adam, our Unlikely Hero, who was able to triumph over his fears to save his mother.  The truth did finally come out and allow Adam to heal.

Adam's struggle and Teresa Toten's book actually ended up helping me finish the lyrics to a song I was working on.  You never know what aspects of your life will be inspired and changed by a book!

Next up: We'll be meeting on Wednesday, April 16th, 7 - 8:30 pm and this month we're reading a mystery -- Evan Munday's The Dead Kid Detective Agency.  Evan Munday's blog "I Don't Like Mundays" is worth checking out, you can also learn more about the book on the publisher, ECW Press's website.  

PS  Close runner-up to our April book was Rachel Hartman's White Pine 2014 nominee Seraphina.  Several members walked away with both books, so we'll likely talk a bit about both!  Both novels are written by cartoonists and feature a mystery that needs solving.

For those of you who can never find enough books to read, be sure to visit the LPL Teen "Books and Magazines" section and subscribe to the Teen Scene Newletter (free! right to your email!) for great reading suggestions.

See you in April!

Linda B.