Cleaning. It might be the task I hate more than anything else. So it was with great appreciation for attention to detail that I read the opening paragraph of Kat Greene Comes Clean—Kat’s mother is using an electric toothbrush to clean the kitchen floor.
It didn’t take long to realize that Kat’s mom cleans more than the typical adult, though. She cleans all day, every day—literally. She washes her hands until they are red and raw. She throws away anything that she thinks is dirty or might be carrying germs. She makes Kat wipe her backpack with antibacterial wipes before she takes it into the house. She even wears—and makes Kat wear—latex gloves in the supermarket!
Kat knows something is wrong at home, but she doesn’t know what to do. She just knows that she has to keep what her mom is doing a secret. She can’t tell her dad, who has remarried. And she doesn’t want people at school to know.
Luckily, she has a best friend who she can talk to about anything. But even with her friend Halle’s support, the pressure of keeping her mother’s strange behavior a secret is taking over Kat’s life.
The problems at home do not relieve Kat from the drama of middle school. At eleven years old, Kat is also in the center of middle school crises. There are fights with friends, romantic crushes, and crazy classmates to deal with every day.
This story about a parent with an obsessive-compulsive disorder and the impact it has on her child’s life is fascinating. Kat’s confusion and struggle to find a way to help her mother is compelling, and it was impossible to put this book down.
Melissa Roske has a teacher’s guide available for Kat Greene Comes Clean on her website, www.melissaroske.com. She is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can find an interesting interview of Ms. Roske on the blog Literary Rambles.
According to the American Psychiatry Association, approximately 1.2 percent of Americans have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It affects slightly more women than men. The average age at which OCD symptoms appear is 19. People with an immediate relative who has OCD are two to five times more likely to experience OCD than those without a close relative with OCD.
The International OCD Foundation has a set of Guidelines for Family Members of people with OCD, which are designed to help strengthen relationships between individuals with OCD and their family members. If someone in your family has OCD and you are looking for help, this is a good resource to use as as starting point.
Many thanks to Ms. Roske for shedding some light on this condition and its effect on families. I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review. I look forward to reading more from this fabulous new author.
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