Words on Bathroom Walls is a debut young adult fiction novel by Julia Walton. The book is structured as journal entries the main character, Adam, writes to his doctor. He is nonverbal in these sessions, but addresses whatever the doctor may have asked him, in detail, enough to make a whole novel.
Before each entry is the dose of an experimental drug Adam is taking to control his schizophrenia.
The model of storytelling is fresh, as is having a main character battling schizophrenia. Adam struggles with the label of "crazy" and interpreting reality because characters from his subconscious regularly populate his world. There is the ever-present Rebecca, who is always around. Then there are the mob guys who bust in and shoot the place up, except that only happens in Adam's head. His reaction though, is in front of everyone.
His struggle is real, and heartbreaking, and comes to a satisfying crescendo that doesn't include a magical cure for mental illness. There is also a tie to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut as the shooter, unfortunately named Adam, also suffered a mental illness. The people around Adam are afraid of him. He lost his best friend after his diagnosis. He even seems to fear himself.
This is not a happy read, but it is a hopeful one. And Adam is a likable teen with snark and determination to not react to the hallucinations that plague him. Some of my favorite scenes are when he suspects his new girlfriend is a figment of his imagination and waits until other people react to her, and when his doctor visits and he asks, "Are you real?"
I haven't seen the movie adaption yet, but can't imagine it being better than this book. We get so deliciously deep in Adam's thoughts. It makes me wonder how that plays out on the screen.
