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Summary: realistic portrayal of what family and friends go through
Review: Everyone would like to think that no matter whta, when your'e in pain, you friends and family will come to your aid. But when they don't understand what you are going through and find your behavior strange and annoying, you may feel all alone. This happens to Tara, a young girl suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. The rituals she uses to comfort herself from doubts and frightening thoughts alienate her from her loved ones, and this makes her suffering greater. As an adult who had been suffering from OCD for about 15 years and wasn't diagnosed until year 14 of it, I see some of my rituals in this book that I performed as a teen. I thought i did these things because I was "crazy" and not because I was ill. I read this book to help me understand all the behavior I overlook and rituals that I am so used to doing, I consider them "normal behavior". This a great book for anyone who has OCD, children suffering from OCD, and great for teens regardless. I wish there were more fictional accounts like this for adults (as I am 30 years old). However, OCD is difficult no matter what age you are.
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Summary: What an amazing book!
Review: It was Human Family Essay time in our 7th grade class, and one title that really stood out on the list of books we could read was 'Kissing Doorknobs.' To be honest, it sounded a little weird to me, but I read the summary and it all made sense. It was about Tara, a girl my age with OCD. I had my quirks, and I'd always wanted to know more about OCD. I chose it, and loved every minute of it.
I learned a lot about OCD in this book. One of the most interesting things that I learned is that I do some of the same things Tara does! I hate sentences with uneven syllables, I tap my fingers until both have been tapped an even number of times, etc. I do some other things too, and some of them are almost as weird as kissing your fingers, and touching the doorknob thirty-three times, one after the other. If you want to learn more about OCD, and read a great work of literature at the same time, check out Kissing Doorknobs, by Terry Spencer Hesser. I STRONGLY recommend it!
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Summary: Jen's Review Of Kissing Doorknobs
Review: Terry Spencer Hesser's book, Kissing Doorknobs, is a touching, yet sad story about a girl named Tara. From age 11, she dealt with terrible "tyrants" in her head that made her do the strangest things, like count every single crack on the sidewalk so she wouldn't break her mothers back, performing rituals such as praying, arranging food, kissing her fingers and then touching her door knob 33 times, and trying to be balanced. Like if she started to cry and a tear only fell on her left cheek, she would need a tear to fall on her right cheek so it would balance out, so it wouldn't be uneven, which she hated. All of these rituals did a number on her family and affected her relationships with her friends and family. But what she doesn't know is that she'll soon meet someone with the same problems as her, who inspires her and tells her she is going to get through this. This story makes you really see how a person with OCD lives, and what's going through their heads, which Hesser describes very thoroughly. I know a little how Tara feels because I have a tiny OCD. But not nearly as bad as Tara, I don't need professional help or anything, it's just little things like how somethings have to be perfect, and I can control it, it doesn't control me, like in Tara's position.Hesser wrote this book using her own experiences, so whether you suffer from OCD, or just want a really good book to read, this is the one. If your a sufferrer of OCD, then you'll truly understand all of the hardships and emotional factors that go along with this book.
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Summary: This book is GREAT!
Review: Terry Spencer Hesser has put word together to get us an illistration of what 14-year old Tara, who has OCD, is going through. I can relate to Tara, I don't have OCD, but i do sometime do weird things and think of stupic things. They aren't that serious though. But it was kinda weird when I was reading this book, I would read and every so often I would stop and say to my self, "hey I can Relate to that" To me it was really neat, so if you got the time I recommand that you read "Kissing Doorknobs"
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Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This book is truly amazing. Tara Sullivan has the seemingly perfect life. She is popular, smart, and has a great group of friends. Sure, she has strange habits, but who doesn't? But, then everything changes when she hears the rhyme, "Step on a crack, Break your mother's back." Suddenly she can't get the stupid rhyme out of her head. It's all she can think of, she is consumed by this thought, and the tyrants in her head, start to make her do odder, and odder things. This story is truly amazing. The author potrays, OCD, very, very well. This book should be purchased, by everyone, regardles, of whether they have OCD or not.
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Summary: Kissing doorknobs
Review: Kissing Doorknobs was a book for mostly teens. It's about a girl who is diagnosed with Obsessive compulsive disorder and she goes through many obstacles dealing with her OCD, loosing friends gaining friends and loosing them again, and not to mention causing major problems at home with her family. This book showed me not to take advantage of life because there are people in this world just like tara who have way more serious problems then the stupid little things that i call problems.Kissing doorknobs was a book that made me cry when something sad happened and made me laugh or smile when something good happened. At times i wanted to just go into the book and help her when she needed help.It made me have so much respect for people with her dissorder , because sometimes i wonder if i were to have the problems tara was having i wouldn't have been able to live with my self. It takes courage and thats exactly what she had. Over all it was a very very good book and i reccomend it to anyone who likes true life stories.
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Summary: Watch Your Step
Review: The Book "Kissing Doorknobs" by Terry Spencer Hesser tells the story of Tara, a young girl with Obssesive Compulsive Disorder. Terry tells the story through the eyes of Tara as she makes it through life reciting over in her head "Step on a crack and break your mother's back."
I thought the book was well written and easy to follow. One thing about the book I really enjoyed is the way the book was written to really get inside Tara's head. While reading the book I felt as life a was inside her mind.
Even though the books had very good qualities I thought it could have been more descriptive. I would have liked to see more detail on Tara's childhood.
Overall "Kissing Doorknobs" by Terry Spencer Hesser is a great book to get a new perspective on life. "Kissing Doorknobs" lets the reader see the emotions of someone with OCD. If you have time I definatley would recommend this book for everyone.
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Summary: Kissing Doorknobs-Review
Review: Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser is an exhilarating novel. It shows you the life and world of a young girl with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Hesser incorporates two worlds in her book. The world Tara experiences as she is tormented by her unstoppable "quirks" and the world that the public sees, while watching, questioning, and treating Tara like an outcast. Tara's disorder in a way "forces" her to do things, such as counting cracks on a sidewalk, sometimes repeatedly. Throughout the book and throughout Tara's life, Tara starts to lose the relationships she once had with her family and friends before OCD. Kissing Doorknobs also describes the trials and tribulations involved in the fight to "depart" from OCD.
This book is a well-written novel with an easy to follow plot that keeps the reader attached. Hesser uses many of her experiences in the award-winning novel thus making, Kissing Doorknobs a realistic portrayal. Kissing Doorknobs by Terry S. Hesser is a must read, it can help you understand why people like Tara have these problems and that with determination they can overcome them.
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Summary: It opened my eyes!
Review: I have to relate a story. I recently chose this book off of my own bookshelf in my classroom to read during the TAKS test (state test) administration. I read it in one day, and was fascinated by the account of Tara's life. When I went home, I related this story to my 14 year old son, who has been diagnosed with ADHD since Kindergarten. He astounded me when he said "Oh, I do those things, too!" I let him finish talking about what he did, and I couldn't believe that he had been doing the things that Tara did in the book (counting, praying, etc.) I now have my eyes open, and am going to seek treatment for OCD for him. It explains a lot of behaviors in him. This book was more than a surprise help to me!
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Summary: A good way to get inside the head of an OCD teen
Review: This is about a teenage girl who, unknown to her, has OCD issues that are wrecking her personal life with her friends and family, and for herself. The book reads a bit like a fiction story but is mixed in with factual information about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which is nice for anyone who may think they are suffering from it (and there are pages with websites and addresses for further help). This isn't a story that would particularly interest people unfamiliar with OCD since the plot revolves almost all around the troubles she suffers, but it is a fast read and comforting to those of us who have it in any form. And if you know anyone or have a child that has OCD, I recommend it.
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