Words on Bathroom Walls - by Julia Walton (Paperback)

About the Book

Recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, Adam journals to his therapist about family, friends, and first loves as he undergoes a new drug trial for the mental illness that allows him to keep his secret for only so long.

Book Synopsis

Now a Major Motion Picture starring Charlie Plummer, AnnaSophia Robb, and Taylor Russell!

Fans of More Happy Than Not and The Perks of Being a Wallflower will cheer for Adam in this uplifting and surprisingly funny story of a boy living with schizophrenia.

When you can't trust your mind, trust your heart.

Adam is a pretty regular teen, except he's navigating high school life while living with paranoid schizophrenia. His hallucinations include a cast of characters that range from the good (beautiful Rebecca) to the bad (angry Mob Boss) to the just plain weird (polite naked guy).
An experimental drug promises to help him hide his illness from the world. When Adam meets Maya, a fiercely intelligent girl, he desperately wants to be the normal, great guy that she thinks he is. But as the miracle drug begins to fail, how long can he keep this secret from the girl of his dreams?

"Echoing the premise and structure of Flowers for Algernon, this [is a] frank and inspiring novel." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

Don't miss Just Our Luck, another stunning book by Julia Walton. Coming in 2020!

Review Quotes

An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults * A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year * Kansas National Education Association Reading Circle Catalog Selection Book of the Year * Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee * A CBC's 2 Teen Choice Book Awards Nominee

"Creates a psychologically tense story with sympathetic characters while dispelling myths about a much-feared condition." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A welcome novel that doesn't treat schizophrenia as an unavoidable sentence of doom and that allots friendship and romance equal weight with mental illness." --Kirkus Reviews

"Walton does a brilliant job of giving a voice to a population that is often silenced." --Booklist

"Despite heavy subject matter, Adam is hilarious and infinitely lovable, and the ending is hopeful and realistic rather than happily-ever-after and contrived." --The Hub, YALSA

"Imaginative writing and beautiful storytelling make this book an upbeat tale, but the message [of acceptance] is still driven home." --VOYA

"A brutal, beautiful book that sits right beside The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I'll Give You the Sun." --Jennifer Longo, author of Up to This Pointe

"This book reminds me of A Monster Calls. I saved the final twenty pages for the next day because I didn't want Adam's story to end." --Peter Brown Hoffmeister, author of This Is the Part Where You Laugh

About the Author

Julia Walton received an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. When she's not reading or baking cookies, she's indulging in her profound love of Swedish Fish, mechanical pencils, and hobbit-sized breakfasts. Julia lives with her husband and daughter in Huntington Beach, CA. Follow her on Twitter at @JWaltonwrites.