It's impossible to swallow words after letting them out, so it's better for me not to speak at all if I can help it.' Instead he writes about their sessions afterwards in the form of journal entries. 'I don't always say the things I mean to say when I talk to someone.

Although Walton's character, Adam, a young teen diagnosed with schizophrenia is witty and intelligent, the portrayal of this mental illness is decidedly one dimensional and the novel unrelenting in its misrepresentations about the Catholic faith.Īlthough Adam is in therapy he won't talk to his therapist. Readers looking for a novel that tackles the topic of schizophrenia in an honest, accurate way without getting bogged down in tropes,won't find it in Words On Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton. It isn't until a disastrous situation at prom, that the truth comes out and Adam must confront the reality of life with his secret revealed. Adam hasn't told his friend Dwight nor his girlfriend Maya.

But soon, the new drug Adam is taking presents health risks, resulting in researchers slowly lowering the dosage and withdrawing him from the study. He saves her and they soon become friends and then a couple.Īdams entries tell about his abandonment by his father, his mother remarrying a lawyer named Paul, his love of cooking, and is growing relationship with Maya. One day after gym class, Adam hears splashing in the pool and when he goes to investigate, discovers Maya floundering and drowning. Augustine, and the Hail, Holy Queen from memory.' But this has consequences in that he is signed up for the Academic Team. There Adam meets Dwight Olberman with who he has most of his classes.Īdam is able to get out of religion homework by rewriting 'the mysteries of the rosary, the Prayer of St. At this point he meets a girl, whose name he soon learns is Maya, who helps him get to his next class. True to form, as soon as Adam goes to pick up his PE uniform, Ian ditches him. On his first day he is assigned a school ambassador, Ian Stone, whom Adam recognizes as a 'douche'. Because of problems at his previous school his mother and stepfather have decided to move him to a private school, St. He's also on an experimental drug, ToZaPrex.

Since Adam won't communicate verbally with his therapist, he writes journal entries. Adam sees things that other people do not see, like beautiful, tall, blond Rebecca, or huge bats. He is unusual in that his symptoms appeared when he was young, around the age of eight. Sixteen-year-old Adam Petrazelli has schizophrenia.

Words on bathroom walls novel