Don't Touch

Volume Sixteen in the Books That Matter Series

Sixteen-year-old Caddie Finn is scared. She has just changed schools, having been accepted to an arts academy so she can study acting. She has been reunited with a former friend and her father has recently moved away. These might be some of her reasons for being worried but her true fear is that someone might touch her. Caddie fears that any skin contact might cause negative things to happen. Don't Touch explores the inner workings of a teenager dealing with OCD and anxiety.

Caddie is easy to relate to. Like all teenagers, she wants to find a place where she fits in, to have friends, and to be in love, but her fears are keeping her from all of these things. Author, Rachel M. Wilson, has created a believable character who readers will connect with. She uses Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, to parallel Caddie's own journey. As Caddie prepares to play Ophelia in the school play, she finds herself wondering what makes her similar and different from the character she is portraying. It also brings her closer to Peter, the guy she has a crush on, who is playing Hamlet. With her feelings intensifying for Peter but not wanting to be touched, Caddie finds it hard to keep control with her mantra, "Don't touch."

Ms. Wilson's author note at the end of the novel explains her own battle with OCD, answers questions readers may have, and offers important phone numbers and websites where people can go for help. Thank you, Rachel M. Wilson, for writing this novel and shining a spotlight on the struggles that come with OCD and anxiety. Don't Touch is a book that matters.