When Tara was eleven years old, she heard the phrase that changed her life: step on a crack, break your mother's back. . . . And before Tara knew what was happening, she was counting the cracks in the sidewalk everywhere she went, in constant fear of breaking her mother's back. If she missed one crack or lost count, she had to go home and start all over again.
Over time, Tara's quirks changed -- and multiplied. To calm herself, she arranged her food carefully on the plate, chatted with troll dolls, and recited prayers over and over. She didn't like behaving so oddly; she only knew she had to if she wanted to feel better.
Tara's troubles only got worse when, one day, she developed a new ritual: She kissed her fingers and touched a doorknob. . . .
Terry Spencer Hesser has written a funny, compelling, and sensitive story about a teenage girl afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder and the way it affects her relationships with friends and family.
