Kate
The Unlikely Hero of 13B by Teresa Toten is an eye opening work of realistic fiction,
which tells the story of fifteen year old Adam who suffers from obsessive
compulsive disorder (OCD) as he begins attending a support group for OCD as
recommended by his psychiatrist, Chuck. Adam
does the best he can in individual and group therapy by offering support
whenever possible to the other group members, all the while keeping the secret
of his mother’s hoarding and drinking problems, as well as dealing with being a
father figure to his five-year old half-brother at his father’s house. He falls in love with a girl named Robyn from
the support group and she eventually convinces Adam to open up to the group
about his mom, including the mysterious letters she’s been receiving that tell
her how much she’s messing up her son’s life and to kill herself. Chuck explains to Adam that Robyn has
progressed to a point where it’s counterproductive to be in the support group. Adam makes the painful decision to let Robyn
go so that she can lead a “normal” life and returns home to find a small fire
on the stove and his mother on the floor rambling about getting into a fight
with the author of the letters. It is revealed
that Adam’s mother wrote the letters and is institutionalized, while Adam then
settles in to life at his father’s house with his ever loving brother, Sweetie.
The author
tells the story from the third person point of view. However, the main
character, Adam’s thoughts come through clearly throughout the book. For
example, “Adam’s feelings stumbled and tripped around like out-of-control
drunks; he was jubilant one minute, drowning in anxiety the next. This was
love? It was like being held hostage by a terrorist.” (Toten, 2013, p. 99) While the ending was not exactly a happy one,
the author left things as they should be. Adam broke it off with Robyn so that
she could move forward while she was still in remission and Adam’s mom was in a
psychiatric hospital receiving the care she so desperately needed. I did enjoy
that Adam, “Batman” found a new “Robin” in his younger brother, Sweetie and
finally felt comfortable enough in his environment to cry. The topics of hiding
obsessive compulsive disorder from others, erections, suicide, self-harm, call
for a recommended audience of mature middle school and high school.
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