Read this when
Turtles All the Way Down
When your own brain feels like the scariest place to be stuck in. 🌀 Aza gets it.
Who it's for
Green, who has written publicly about his own OCD, renders Aza's thought spirals in looping, tightening sentences so the reader feels the pull of an intrusive thought from inside, which can give people with OCD a rare sense of being accurately seen.
Feelings it meets
What it is
John Green's 2017 young adult novel follows Aza Holmes, a 16-year-old high school student in Indianapolis living with OCD and anxiety. When a billionaire neighbor disappears amid a corporate crime investigation, Aza and her best friend Daisy set out to find him for a reward, and Aza grows close to his son, Davis Pickett.
Where to find it
In print; widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla, where held) and as an audiobook. Not public domain. Adapted as a 2024 film.
Before you start
Heads up: Compulsive wound-picking; a parent's death.
Age: Ages 14+
Out, damned spot! out, I say!William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1
