Dirty Little Secrets

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. A gripping story about the secret shame of compulsive hoarding. C. J. Omololu (Oh-moh-LOH-loo) didn't grow up in a hoarded home, but has seen what the disorder can do to a family. Her research with the organization Children of Hoarders informed Dirty Little Secrets, which is her first novel. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons.