Zelah Green, Queen of Clean

Zelah Green lives her life in a permanent state of germ alert but doesn’t think her rituals – which involve washing each of her hands thirty-one times – are a problem. Things have been going wrong for her ever since her beloved mother died, and then her father went missing, leaving her alone with her unfeeling stepmother.

One day Zelah’s neighbour, Heather, intervenes and takes her to the Forest Hill treatment centre, where she meets a host of other teenagers with problems to rival her own and slowly finds the strength to help herself and others (including a gorgeous boy called Sol) too.

In addition to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the storyline also sees Zelah encounter characters who are experiencing depression, self-harm and eating disorders. Despite some of the heavy issues dealt with in this book, the story is ultimately hopeful and Zelah is an endearing and believable protagonist.