YOUNG ADULT BOOK.

Okay, I am completely off base with whom I consider to be a young adult. I consider myself a young adult, because HELLO, I am young and I am an adult. Apparently teenagers, like 14-18 are young adults, which sucks because now I am 24 and a semi-old adult or something.

ANYWAYS, Dirty Little Secrets by C. J. Omololu is for you teeny boppers out there. I found it to be completely enjoyable, even though I am an old lady. It's about this sixteen year old girl named Lucy who has a dark, dark secret. No, it's not the usually horrors that you are probably guessing, no rape, no physical abuse, maybe some emotional abuse, but mainly her big secret is that her mother is a hoarder. Do you know what that is? You don't hear about them everyday because it's not like they are technically breaking the law or anything, they are just gross as hell. Hoarders do not throw out ANYTHING. It's kind of mental, they feel like they need to save everything because in their crazy heads they think they will use it again. They end up leaving it (unused) in some part of their house and it collects dust for FOREVER. This happens with everything they come across, so their houses turn into garbage dumps filled with crap they "treasure."

Lucy's mom is a freak like this. Her house has been a mess ever since her dad left them years ago. She has two older siblings who moved out as soon as they could, but she is sixteen and stuck until she is done with high school. She recently changed schools because people found out about her house and began tormenting her. In her new (public) school she has kept everyone at a safe distance so that they have no idea the kind of environment she lives in. Lucy is quiet in school, but things start changing for the better during Christmas break when a guy she likes asks her to a party. She goes home, all excited and finds her mom DEAD on the ground. One of the huge piles of crap fell on her and she didn't have her inhaler, so she died.

Lucy cannot imagine what people will say when she calls the police and the ambulance comes. She knows people will make a spectacle of her disgusting house, so she keeps the house cold and tries to get rid of the garbage in the main rooms. While she's cleaning she gets frustrated, she has to handle this all on her own. She ends up choosing to live up her last night as a "normal" teenager and goes to the party. Annnnnnd that's all I am telling you.

It's a good, clean book (for you mothers out there). Clean enough for your younger teens.