# 26 -- Dirty Little Secrets

Dirty Little Secrets, by C. J. Omololu, is a novel that covers a topic that until recently was totally behind closed doors.

Hoarding is a compulsive disorder that causes people to keep so much "stuff" that it takes over their homes and their lives. There are hoarders that are "organized" (with boxes and everything stacked in neat rows to the ceiling) and there are those that walk on top of the items they have accumulated and can't see the floor. Hoarding has become a topic of discussion lately because of the television show on A&E, but you still might not know if the person you work with or the kid in your class lives in those conditions.

This novel is told from the perspective of a teenager forced to keep her mother's hoarding a secret and will go to great lengths to do so. I found myself hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, and was totally taken by the ending.