Things I Shouldn't Think

by Janet Ruth Young

Genres: YA Coming of Age

Synopsis

An unnerving novel about a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from a form of OCD that makes her think dark, disturbing thoughts.

Seventeen year-old Dani Solomon is not a violent person, but she has violent thoughts. Cruel thoughts. Harmful thoughts. Dangerous thoughts. She thinks about calling her gay best friend a freak. She thinks about knocking her mother off a ladder.
She thinks about killing Alex, the child she babysits.
To protect Alex from herself, Dani tells his mother. And it doesn’t take long for the story to leak, for Dani to be persecuted and ostracized from her community and peers for a crime she hasn’t even committed.
Janet Ruth Young writes convincingly about mental illness. Dani’s disorder is based on a real form of OCD and her treatment incorporates actual psychiatric methods, making Things I Shouldn’t Think (formerly published as The Babysitter Murders) an authentic read that is impossible to put down.

Release date: November 13, 2012

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Print pages: 352

Sample

1

MyFace Profile

Name: Dani

Sex: Female

Age: 17 years old

Location: Hawthorne, Massachusetts, United States

Last log-in: April 23

Mood: romantic

My hobbies: tennis, running, singing

Interested in: friendship male and female, dating male, relationship male

My favorite quote:

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”—Charles Reade

About me:

Hello, world!!! I’m a jr. at Hawthorne High and sing alto in our a cappella group the Hawtones . . . love the teamwork . . . play varsity tennis . . . brings out my competitive side . . . best friend is Shelley . . . u can see lots of pictures of us here . . . lots of good times . . . I’m a loyal friend, always try to live up to what is expected of me . . . hate letting people down, would rather be disappointed in them than have them disappointed in me . . . I’ve had this happen to me at least once since my dad moved away when I was little . . . I won’t bore you with that story since you probably know how that goes . . . I like a guy at school, but he has no idea . . . so if you are cute and reasonably tall and above all, NICE, please hit me up.

TMI, Dani thinks. That’s way too much information. Just leave in the happy parts.

Hello, world!!! I’m a jr. at Hawthorne High and sing alto in our a cappella group the Hawtones . . . love the teamwork . . . play varsity tennis . . . brings out my competitive side . . . best friend is Shelley . . . u can see lots of pictures of us here . . . lots of good times . . . I’m a loyal friend, always try to live up to what is expected of me . . . if you are cute and reasonably tall and above all, NICE, please hit me up.

Dani presses Publish.

© 2011 Janet Ruth Young