How many times have you heard someone laugh off his eccentricities with a flippant, "Oh, that's just my OCD coming out?" How many times have you chuckled knowingly, remembering your own neuroses - the way you have to make your bed just so, or how you can't stand it if the toilet paper is on the holder in the improper position, or the way that you can't stop yourself from sweeping up every crumb that hits the floor as soon it lands? I dare you to laugh about OCD after reading the first four pages of Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD by Beth Alison Maloney. You won't. I guarantee it.
Maloney's story begins the summer her middle son, Sammy, turns 12. A smart, happy child, he enjoyed competing in mathathons, playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friends, and hunting for treasures along the shoreline near his home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Then, Maloney buys a new home, moving herself and her three boys away from the beachfront rental home they'd come to love. His parents' recent divorce, plus the stress of moving, seems to traumatize Sammy. Beth watches as he takes up strange behaviors - walking around with his eyes shut, navigating only with his hands; refusing to sleep in his new bedroom; avoiding physical contact; spinning, hopping and jerking at odd times. What begins as puzzling soon becomes alarming. Sammy's compulsions start to take over his life - he can't leave the house without performing a complicated routine; he won't shower, brush his teeth, or change his clothes; he can't stand having windows open or the sight of bare feet or the sound of loud breathing. He apologizes constantly for inconveniencing his family, but he can't seem to control his need for things to be a certain way.

Terrified, Beth searches for a doctor willing to see Sammy, finally landing in the New Hampshire office of psychiatrist Dr. Drill. His diagnosis? Obsessive compulsive disorder. The answer makes sense, but Beth's still troubled. With its sudden onset and no family history of OCD, she can't fathom how her son ended up with the condition. Still, she follows the doctor's advice. As Sammy's symptoms get worse and worse, Beth knows there's more to it than OCD. Second diagnosis? Tourette's. Despite the usual medications used to treat the disease, Sammy's still no better. His obsessions keep him confined to the house, where the family has to walk on eggshells so as not to disturb his fragile psyche. Exhausted, depressed and terrified, Beth vows to help her son. No matter what it takes. When her research leads to a controversial study linking OCD to strep throat, she thinks she's finally found her answer. The only problem lies in convincing Sammy's doctors. With stubborn determination, she braces herself for war, battling doctors, researchers and anyone who stands in the way of her son and the cure she knows is out there. Long after others would have given up, she fights. She won't stop until she has her Sammy back. And she doesn't.

Saving Sammy is an incredible, absorbing story that is as troubling as it is inspiring. My heart ached for the boy whose compulsions made his life a living hell; for his brothers, who dreaded being at home; and especially for Beth, whose agony is palpable. Her story is a rebuke of the doctors who stubbornly refused to look beyond their beloved studies, letting patients suffer before allowing themselves to move past their foregone conclusions. It's a call-to-action, urging parents everywhere to stand up for their sick children. Mostly, it's a testimony to the strength and perserverance of a mother who refused to back down. And to the boy she brought back from the very brink of insanity. It's a story you're not going to believe, and one you won't soon forget.

Grade: A

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for mature themes

To the FTC, with love: I received Saving Sammy from TLC Book Tours. The fact that I received the book free of charge has nothing to do with the way I graded it - I gave it an A because that's exactly what it deserves.

First off, I have to admit that I didn't read Charanavi by Masahiro Tsurumoto from cover to cover. It's just not that kind of book. Rather, it's the type that you can scan and enjoy without putting forth a lot of effort. Light and fun, Charanavi would mke a perfect addition to the stacks on your coffee table. I prefer glossy hardcovers, but you know what I mean - the book is a good conversation piece or icebreaker.

Basically, the art of Charanavi - which means "character development" - uses your birthday to determine into which of 12 animal categories you fall. Each category is broken down even further, offering results such as Restless Monkey, Ambitious Monkey, Devoted Monkey, Playful Monkey, etc. Once you figure out which best represents you, you can read all about yourself. You can also discover what fortune each new year will bring to you, which other animals (personalities) most complement yours, and which celebrities share your animal. The point of the exercise is, of course, to learn more about yourself and to figure out how to communicate better with those around you.

The cover exclaims that Charanavi is "mysteriously accurate," and that turns out to be true, at least to some degree. My husband and I both ended up being Romantic Koalas (all together now, "Awwwww...."), the animal's description fit him much better than it did me. He truly does "like to live in a world full of variety and [tries] to make changes in [his] life and surrounding circumstances," (128) while I resist change with all my might. After I looked up my myself and my husband, I went on to my children and siblings (basically the only people for whom I know not only the day of their birth but also the year). What I found was surprisingly accurate. For instance, my older sister fit the description of a Calm Pegasus (sociable, opinionated and highly motivated) to a T, while my younger sister is a perfect Swift Koala (sociable and good at choosing friends with her "keen, observant eyes" [120]).

Like any philosophy of this sort, some ideas apply, some don't, but it's a fun foray into amateur Psychology. Charanavi does not dig too deeply into the complexities of each personality; if you prefer a more serious (and illuminating) discussion, check out The Color Code by Taylor Hartman, PhD (see my review here). If you're looking for a light, fun look at personality, Charanavi definitely fits the bill.

Grade: B-

I've always been interested in psychology, so I was excited to read this book that was recommended to me by a friend (incidentally, she and I took Introduction to Psychology together when we were in college). The Color Code, written by Utah psychologist Taylor Hartman, provides a key to understanding the different personality types that exist in all human beings. He insists that all personalities can be divided into four basic types (or colors, using his system): red (driven by power, basically Type A personalities); blue (motivated by intimacy, emotional); white (peacemakers) and yellow (fun-loving, party people). Obviously, he says, people have secondary and mixed colors, but their basic makeups fall into these four categories. I was a little skeptical at first (people are so complex, it should be impossible to categorize them so easily), but his system is surprisingly accurate. I could easily pinpoint red, blue, white and yellow people in my life, and their personalities (in general) were described almost perfectly by Dr. Hartman.

Hartman's point is that by identifying these personality types, we can better understand how to communicate and associate with each other. Also, by finding our own color, we can better understand ourselves and how we relate to other people. With this goal in mind, Hartman provides a test to determine your own color. Then, he goes through each of the colors, listing its strengths and weaknesses. While this was interesting, what I found most fascinating was his analysis of the relationships of people with differing colors. Hartman goes through each color combination, detailing how the colors interact when paired as co-workers, spouses, friends, parent/child, etc. Again, I found his descriptions surprisingly accurate.

The final section of the book (which I found to be the least interesting) focuses on becoming "charactered," or building character by developing positive traits found in colors other than your own. For instance, a Yellow who says, "I'm too fun-loving to work hard - that's just the way I am," is not charactered. A Yellow who says "Yes, I'm fun-loving, but I also discipline myself to finish work before I play," is charactered. Hartman has actually written Color Your Future, which I believe focuses solely on this aspect of his philosophy.

I found Hartman's book riveting. Some of it's a little cheesy (I snickered every time he used the term "rainbow connection"), but I think it's already helped me to understand myself and others a little better. Even if you're skeptical, it's a fun book to read.

If you don't have time to find the book, you can take the personality test for free at http://www.thecolorcode.com/. You do have to create an account there, but you can opt out of receiving mailings from them.