Every Last Word

Stone, Tamara Ireland. Every Last Word. 2015. 356p. ISBN 978-1-48470527-8. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

Samantha McAllister suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and she often finds herself sinking in a pool of dark thoughts. When she drives, the last number on the odometer must be 3 before she can park. She focuses on the smallest worries and magnifies them. A junior in high school, Samantha has been part of a tight-knit group of girls called the Crazy Eights, even though there are only five of them left. The girls are toxic to their friends, mean to others, and exclusive, and Samantha knows she ranks 4th in the group. In the summer, when the group is split up, Samantha is most happy. She swims every day, and stands a good chance of earning a scholarship. She works tirelessly with her psychiatrist to develop coping mechanisms to her obsessions.

On the first day of her junior year, she is accosted by Caroline, who is a few lockers down from Samantha. Caroline is everything Samantha is not: makeup free, comfortable in her skin, and not caring about what others think of her. In the theatre, she notices a group of students leaving a custodian closet, and one of them mentions another meeting on Thursday. Intrigued and guided by Caroline, Samantha discovers the Poet’s Corner, a secret room built behind the custodian where a group of students who don’t fit in find shelter, contributing words and music. Samantha immediately knows she needs to spend more time here, but A.J., who holds the key to the Poet’s corner, was relentlessly humiliated by the Crazy Eights in 4th grade and has not forgotten. Samantha is turned away from the group but is convinced by Caroline to try again.

Over the next few months, Samantha successfully manages to become a member of the Poet’s Corner, and as he friendships grow with those kids, she feels herself becoming more distant with the Crazy Eights, a more than welcomed break and something that her psychiatrist has encouraged her to do for years. At the same time, Caroline has told Samantha to keep their relationship as friends a secret from her family and from her psychiatrist. As Sam’s relationship with A.J. evolves and grows into something more than friends, she discovers Caroline’s secret, a secret so powerful it could destroy everything Samantha has worked for.

Inspired from a true story, Every Last Word accurately portrays the actions of a girl lost in her own thoughts and often unable to climb out of her mind. Readers who enjoy unreliable narrators will appreciate Samantha’s story.