Dirty Little Secrets Review

TITLE: Dirty Little Secrets
AUTHOR: C.J. Omololu
PUB DATE: February 2010
PAGES: 212

ABOUT THE BOOK:
A gripping story about the secret shame of compulsive hoarding

Everyone has a secret. But Lucy’s is bigger and dirtier than most. It’s one she’s been hiding for years—that her mom’s out-of-control hoarding has turned their lives into a world of garbage and shame. She’s managed to keep her home life hidden from her best friend and her crush, knowing they’d be disgusted by the truth. So, when her mom dies suddenly in their home, Lucy hesitates to call 911 because revealing their way of life would make her future unbearable—and she begins her two-day plan to set her life right.

With details that are as fascinating as they are disturbing, C. J. Omololu weaves an hour-by-hour account of Lucy’s desperate attempt at normalcy. Her fear and isolation are palpable as readers are pulled down a path from which there is no return, and the impact of hoarding on one teen’s life will have readers completely hooked.

MY THOUGHTS:

After reading Kristi’s The Story Siren review of Dirty Little Secrets I had to rush out and buy the book.

All I have to say is “OMG” what a read. It was really good but yet sad and disturbing. Once I started to read the book I couldn’t put it down and I pretty much managed to read it in one sitting. I think there was only one part that I found kind of gross and I had to put the book down but I guess it is to be expected in a household that hoards.

Lucy is the main character and she is a young teenage girl who wants a life like her friends do and to live like they do. In a clean and organized house. Only once has Lucy’s secret got out and she was made fun of. Now in a new school she is trying so hard to keep her lies and her secrets from her best friend, Kaylie.

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. That is until her mother suddenly dies in the house buried under junk that Lucy fears her secret is about to explode and everyone will find out what kind of life Lucy is living. She is afraid that she will loose her best friend and possible new boyfriend should word get out about what goes on behind closed doors.

The book is about that one day when Lucy finds her mother dead on the floor. She fears calling 911 because she doesn’t want everyone to know about the hoarding. So she comes up with a plan, will she be able to do it or will it all back fire?

In a way I was frustrated with Lucy for not calling 911 but for some reason I could understand why she didn’t right away. If you had that kind of secret would you want the world to know?

Did you know that within 100,000 people that roughly 350 of them are hoarders?
Did you know that 250,000 animals are victims to animal hoarding?

Thankfully I have no problem passing things on and getting rid of things either by friends, drop off center or recycling (garbage etc. I never knew anyone like this growing up and it was only when I met someone in my now extended family did I realize this was something. I knew this person was a hoarder from day one of walking into his apartment. He would never throw away anything and I mean that. I know the location of a storage locker to prove it. He would actually root through what people threw away and if it was good he would pick it up. He tried several times to pass things on to us and we would quickly throw it away once we got home.

For more information on hoarding you can check out this website http://www.childrenofhoarders.com/