Dirty Little Secrets

Omololu, C.J. Dirty Little Secrets
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2010 212p 16.99
978-0-8027-8660-9 ms/hs VG-BN
Lucy’s secret is that her mother is a hoarder and the inside of their house looks and smells like a dump. The plot revolves around how Lucy keeps this from her friends and the rest of the world. Two more years until she graduates from high school and can leave the dirty secret. Lucy’s secret is that her mother is a hoarder and the inside of their house looks and smells like a dump. Because no repairmen will enter the house, there is no longer any heat or hot water. Lucy has been able to keep this secret from her neighbors, friends and the rest of the world as well, but it has taken a toll on her self-esteem and on her social life. Her older brother and sister have escaped the problem by moving out. Luckily, Lucy has a best friend whose house she stays at often and is starting to develop a romantic relationship as well. However, one day, when Lucy arrives home, she finds that her mother has died from an asthma attack because she couldn’t reach or find her inhaler in all the mess. Lucy doesn’t want anyone to know her mother has died, because that means that people will see the house and the way they lived, that her personal life will become sensationalized, and that she and her “dirty secret” will be exposed. The story takes place over a few days and the reader will keep the pages turning to find out how Lucy resolves her problem. The issue of hoarding is a topic that is currently a part of reality t.v. and the author has written an understanding novel about how this issue affects the children of hoarders. This book would be a very good title for middle and high school libraries; there are not many YA titles about this issue at this time. The issue of hoarding is a topic that is currently a part of reality t.v. and the author has written an understanding novel about how this issue affects the children of hoarders. This book would be a very good title for middle and high school libraries; there are not many YA titles about this issue at this time. Weinraub(2), Tina

Dirty Little Secrets.

Omololu, C. J. Dirty Little Secrets.
Walker & Co 2010 212p 16.99
978-0-8027-8660-9 jr/sr VG-BN
Lucy’s takes showers in gyms. She hides her mother’s hoarding, so severe that there are only tiny pathways from room to room, rotting food creating foul odors. When her mother dies, Lucy must keep the family secret with disastrous results. Grades 7 up. This book takes place in a two day period with increasing tension building from one chapter to the next. Told with flashbacks, the reader sees Lucy’s mother as a perfectionist who was a child prodigy musician and a successful cancer nurse but now is a hoarder. Lucy has few friends. She cannot invite anyone over to her home. She often must find a gym to take a shower. She is concerned that her clothes will carry the smell of mold and rotting food in her home. Lucy maintains a friendship with a girl at school by carefully inventing lies about why they must always meet in public or at the girlfriend’s home. Lucy is attracted to a boy in her class and meets him for a date. Events radically change Lucy as she arrives home to find her mother has died in one of the narrow passageways that lead from one room to another in their home. Lucy refuses to call 911 fearing negative media attention. She frantically tries to clean house, giving up as she realizes she can’t make a dent in the trash. She finally decides to burn the house down with her dead mother inside to cover up the family secret. The emotional trauma certainly won’t end but the secret will be safe. A sad look at the futility and despair felt by children of mentally ill parents. An afterword gives web sites and information for children of hoarders. Gripping reading for grades 7 and up. McNicol,Lois