cover image Don't Touch

Don't Touch

Rachel M. Wilson. HarperTeen, $17.99 (432p) ISBN 978-0-06-222093-6

Caddie Finn has been playing a "game" with herself that involves not touching anyone%E2%80%94not her mother, brother, friends, or a boy she likes. She believes that if she avoids touching others, good things will happen, like her father returning home after he abandoned their family. Caddie has enrolled at a new arts school, where the students welcome her with open arms, regarding her long protective gloves as merely a theater quirk. But theater kids can be touchy (in multiple senses), and soon Caddie is living as though her friends are an obstacle course to avoid, especially after she's cast as Ophelia in a production of Hamlet. In this absorbing debut, Wilson resists turning Caddie's story into a lesson about seeking help for mental illness, instead sensitively and vividly introducing a character whose obsessive-compulsive disorder is distinct to her personality, yet relatable. Readers will wince along with Caddie as she navigates perceived threats in her world, eventually gaining a sense of internal power and solace. An endnote details the author's struggle with OCD and offers mental health resources. Ages 14%E2%80%93up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger. (Sept.)