OCD and The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

OCD and The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten is the 2016 winner of the Schneider Family Book Award.  This young adult novel tells the story of Adam Spencer Ross or “Batman” as he is nicknamed by his OCD support group.  Adam comes from divorced parents; his mother is struggling to hide the hoarding disorder which threatens to trap them in their home, and his father, stepmother, and brother “Sweetie” struggle to deal with Sweetie’s own Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) tendencies.  Through his support group of other teens with various types of OCD and each with their own superhero handles, Adam discovers that everyone has their own problems and he is not alone in his struggle against his personal demons.

            This book is worthy of the Schneider Family Book Award  as Adam is struggling to deal with a disability and almost every member of the novel’s supporting cast suffers from some sort of mental disorder, revealing the many characteristics of OCD.  While the characters in The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B are facing difficulties in living their lives to the fullest due to their hidden and not-so-hidden disorders, Toten demonstrates the possibility of living a life worth living as long as a person is willing to try to sort through their mental issues with professionals and other types of support.  Toten voices through Adam that everybody lies which is true in every culture whether one wants to believe it.  This book is a valuable read because it takes us into the head of someone with a mental disability, leading to understanding their struggle not readily visible on their surface.

It was necessary for me to avoid the opinions of others as I attempted to imagine the characters in my own imagination.  I agree with the Kirkus Reviews perception of Adam in The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B stating that “Toten does a masterful job bringing Adam to life without ever allowing him to become a one-dimensional poster boy for a teen suffering from mental illness” (2015).  Considering the international value of this novel, it is not difficult to view Adam in a similar light to Sora in The Last Leaves Falling (see previous blog posting for review).  It is impossible to understand what is going on in the mind and body of someone facing disability.  Both of these novels bring readers into the minds of these two teenage boys and instill empathy while educating about each boy’s struggle.

Toten, T. (2013). The unlikely hero of room 13B. [Kindle Version].  Retrieved from Amazon.com

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B.  (2015, March). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/teresa-toten/the-unlikely-hero-of-room-13b/print/