Am I Normal Yet?

Story

16 year old Evie is making a new start at a new college where nobody knows her or that she has OCD. She wants friends and parties and fun and maybe even a boyfriend. She wants to catch up on what she has missed.

Why we chose it

A book for teenage readers that is honest about teenage mental health. A brilliant story about friendship and feminism.

Where it came from

A former journalist, Holly Bourne works for a youth charity helping young people. She wanted to write about the trauma of teenage mental illness, about the fear of relapse and about the pain of relapse. She particularly wanted to represent OCD sensitively and accurately and to show that people with mental health issues are so much more than their diagnosis.

Where it went next

Am I Normal Yet is the first of The Spinster club trilogy. How Hard Can Love Be follows Amber on a summer trip to America and What’s A Girl Gotta Do sees Lottie talking on sexism in book about standing up for your beliefs and finding out what you are capable of, believing in yourself and your ability to change the world.

Associated stories

Holly Bourne has written a number of highly acclaimed books for young adults including, The Manifesto on How to be Interesting, It Only Happens in the Movies, The Places I’ve Cried in Public, and Are We all Lemmings and Snowflakes.