SOLVED. Girl's mother suffers from mental disorder, and girl has to hide it from friends? (Children's book) [s]

[Aleia]

I need help finding the title of a book I read a long time ago. It was a children's book (I can't remember the age it was geared for, but I'm guessing 8-13 years old). It was about a girl whose mother suffers from a mental illness/disorder. I can't remember what the disorder was (or if they even said), but from what I remember it sounded like OCD. The girl never wanted her friends to come over because of her mom's obsessive/controlling behavior, and she was very secretive about her life. The mother had all sorts or "obsessions" or "rituals" that had to be preformed. One of the obsessions had to do with water, like they had to dip their hand in water when entering the house. The girl's friends eventually came over, and her mom ended up freaking out because something was done wrong (I think one of the friends accidentally didn't abide by one of her rules). That's really all I remember about the book... Sadly I can't even remember if this was the main plot in the book or just a side plot. I'm not sure of the genre (I used to read mostly mystery and animal books so it's possible it could be either of those). Please tell me if you know of any book that sounds similar to this! This is really bugging me!

(P.S: A book I found that sounds similar is "Sometimes Mommy Gets Angry", but I don't believe it's that one.)

[Angela]

Could it be How to be a Real Person by Sally Warner?

[Aleia]

Angela wrote: "Could it be How to be a Real Person by Sally Warner?"

I read the description of that, and I don't think so... Hard to tell until I read it, but it doesn't sound like it. Thanks for the suggestion though!

[[deleted user]]

Could it be The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds?

[Aleia]

Andy wrote: "Could it be The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds?"

No, I don't think so.. That book sounds really interesting, though, I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion anyway!

[Erica]

I don't think it's a match as I don't remember anything to do with the OCD-like obsessions, and I think it was bipolar disorder that the mum had, but just to put it out there just in case: The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson (a UK children's book)?https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

[Aleia]

Echo wrote: "I don't think it's a match as I don't remember anything to do with the OCD-like obsessions, and I think it was bipolar disorder that the mum had, but just to put it out there just in case: The Illu..."

Thanks for the suggestion, but sadly that's not the one I'm thinking of :/

[Aleia]

Still haven't found it yet D': If anyone has any more suggestions, please let me know! I'm thinking it may have been an animal-related book because that's pretty much all I read when I was younger (the OCD part was a side-plot).

[Kris]

Aleia, does anything on these YA OCD lists look familiar?
- https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
- https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

Around what year did you read this book? I find "a long time ago" means different things to different people in this large group.

[Aleia]

Kris wrote: "Aleia, does anything on these YA OCD lists look familiar?
- https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
- https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9......"

Thanks for the suggestions, but sadly no :( I don't think the entire book was about OCD or mental illness; I didn't become interested in mental illness topics until my teenage years, and read solely animal/mystery books as a child. I'm not really sure about the age question... I'm guessing I was around age 9-12 when I read it (which would be 6-9 years ago). Thanks again for the suggestions!

[Aleia]

Does anyone else have any suggestions? I'm still dying to figure out what the title is, but still no luck! x

[Kris]

Note: Aleia read the book around 2008-2011.

[Kris]

Keeping Secrets by Ann M. Martin?

One Goodreads reviewer says, "The new neighbors are Willow and Cole but their mom has very weird rules like when you come inside the house you see a vase and you had to tap it five times and you had to take off your shoes. But when it was at night time willows mom was screaming and kicking and yelling at her house it was very creepy!! It would be weird for a mom who has weird rules!!".

www.worldcat.org > Advanced search > Keyword: girl | Subject: monther mental illness | 1970-2012 | Juvenile | Fiction | Book | English

[Jesse]

Possibly Waiting for Normal?

[Aleia]

Kris wrote: "Keeping Secrets by Ann M. Martin?

One Goodreads reviewer says, "The new neighbors are Willow and Cole but their mom has very weird rules like when you come inside the..."

Thank you so much for the suggestion! It sounds exactly like the one I read. Looks very hopeful! I'll have to read it to be sure, but I'll update this thread once I'm positive. Thanks again!

[Aleia]

Jesse wrote: "Possibly Waiting for Normal?"

That sounds very similar! I have to read it to be sure. I'll update this thread as soon as I read it and have an answer. Thank you for the suggestion!

[Kris]

Google's preview for Keeping Secrets - https://books.google.com/books?id=cwL...

Google's preview for Waiting for Normal - https://books.google.com/books?id=Nit...

[Aleia]

Kris wrote: "Google's preview for Keeping Secrets - https://books.google.com/books?id=cwL...

Google's preview for Waiting for Normal ..."

Thank you! I've looked at them both thoroughly, and I'm pretty sure it's "Keeping Secrets". I've ordered them both, just in case (might be a good read, even if it's not the one I'm looking for!). I'll be sure to update once I've read them.

[Kris]

Moving to the "Possibly Solved" folder.

[Aleia]

Kris wrote: "Moving to the "Possibly Solved" folder."

"Keeping Secrets" is undoubtedly the book I was looking for! Thank you very much!

[Rosa]

I'm glad you found it! The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a great play, by the way (just mentioning it for further reference).

[Kris]

Great! Glad we could help, Aleia. Thanks for the update.

[Aleia]

Rosa wrote: "I'm glad you found it! The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a great play, by the way (just mentioning it for further reference)."

It sounds interesting- adding it to my "to read" list! Thanks for the suggestion!