Words on Bathroom Walls

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Jane, Ella (November 10, 2020). " 'Words on Bathroom Walls' is the new coming-of-age film representing mental illness". Russh . Retrieved October 5, 2021. I’m glad [my parents] have each other, but sometimes I think about how much happier everyone would be if I weren’t around. That’s when I feel sad and guilty because if anything happened to me, my mom would be devastated, but as long as I’m in her life, she’s always going to worry about whether or not I’m okay. I don’t know which is worse. So if you can't do that, if you can't transmit the awkwardness and the fear of not knowing if what you're seeing is real, you shouldn’t write a book about this subject. And, probably more important, if you can't make people empathize with the main character, you should definitely write about something else. Even when Adam was with Maya, the voices and people in his head never went away. It was heartbreakingly beautiful reading how had it was for him just to have a normal conversation with his girlfriend while there is a mob shoot-out going on in the corner.

Julia: So, I love Maya’s directness and I love Adam’s creativity. I love that he uses the baking as an outlet when dealing with something that is outside of his control. He can control baking, though, and he can make things that he loves and he can make them for the people that he loves. In a way, that’s beautiful – that you can do something that matters to you when you’re struggling. Anastasia: What kind of research did you have to do while writing? Did you speak with people who have schizophrenia? i118717108 |b1100040573260 |dmvphf |g- |m |h7 |x0 |t0 |i0 |j18 |k180328 |n04-11-2022 20:10 |o- |aREALISTIC FIC WAL Adam’s old friends didn’t stand by him when they became aware of his schizophrenia, though he’s been experiencing symptoms since he was 12. Maybe the experimental (fictional) drug he’s taking will allow him to control his symptoms enough to make new friends who don’t know his history. Through journal entries he’s writing for his therapist, Adam details both his changing symptoms and his experiences as a new student at a Catholic school. At first school seems OK despite the provocations of a bully. Adam befriends “impossibly pale…blindingly white” Dwight and starts dating beautiful Filipina Maya. (Adam is Italian-American with no identified race so likely white.) Though the medication works at first, visual hallucinations still plague him. Adam nearly always recognizes his surprisingly coherent, sometimes-helpful hallucinations as not real, and his executive function is generally unimpaired; he can keep his illness hidden from his classmates. But the drug starts failing, and in the anti–mental-illness culture of fear immediately after the Sandy Hook school shooting, Adam’s in-school episodes go over poorly. Despite this turn, it’s 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.

Adam’s mother, who we’re never told what she does for a living, but does spend all her spare time trying to find a cure or some means for her son to live the life she hopes for him. Paul (Walton Goggins) Paul (Walton Goggins) Adam’s parents are the most amazing thing. Oftentimes stepparents are demonized, but Adam’s stepdad is an important part of his life and not evil. His parents are very involved with Adam’s life. Parents are often caricatures in YA but these ones were developed characters who were flawed yet so supportive of Adam. I loved them so much. aMental illness |xTreatment |0https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85083651 |vJuvenile fiction. |0https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001687

There was so much to like about this book. Julia Walton is a fantastic writer, and her characters were truly fascinating, even if they didn't always behave the way you hoped they might. Adam was insightful, sarcastic, and sensitive, but I didn't find him or his friends more erudite than typical teenagers. I also loved the fact that Walton had her characters react in what you think would be realistic ways to the situations around them.i think a lot of the time in real life people forget that men experience issues with their mental health as well, so this representation was extremely important. Adam, is our main character. God, did I want to hug him until he couldn't breathe anymore. He is schizo. But that's not all that he is. He is also sweet, a great cook *soo jealous*, honest to a fault, moody, a good friend and finally, the best boyfriend any girl could have. When Adam was a kid, there were hopes that his vision issues were due to glaucoma or something treatable like that. However, in time his visions became people, Rebecca, Joaquin, and a set of Bodyguards, as well as a voice. Now, when it comes to Rebecca, she’s cool. Consider Rebecca like that weird best friend you had that you were never romantically interested in, yet you are so close that everyone thinks you go together. Joaquin? He is that dude who either is having sex all the time or talks about it so much he seems either obsessed or a pro. Then, with the Bodyguard, and his crew, mainly they protect Adam’s ego.

She tells her kids that some shows on Netflix are broken because they are so effing annoying she cannot watch them. Julia: There were some alternative titles. In the beginning, I played with the idea of using Feel or Real as two title options. Then there was the part in the movie where they panned over the words on the bathroom walls and it said, “Jesus loves you, but don’t be a homo.” That’s actually a line that I saw on a bathroom wall growing up. So, I used that as a conversation starter. The two lines were written by two different people and you could tell because the handwriting was different. I thought it was strange how the words could change, like a conversation between two people, and the meaning can change immediately based on how somebody else comments on it. It just seemed appropriate for the story. You’re viewing something by itself and the minute you start looking at the comments and the way that other people are viewing it, it changes. So, word on the bathroom walls is like an ongoing conversation. I also have to say how much I appreciate Adam’s head on approach in coping with his mental condition. Had we actually gotten to see Adam in therapy and conversation with his therapist, I think this book could’ve been so much better and the messages it sent would’ve been more positive. Nevertheless, I never really connected to the story. I didn't particularly enjoy reading it, but I also didn't dislike it. It was just a whole lot of "in the middle", which is kind of almost worse when a book doesn't make you feel anything? I also never really found the plot in the novel - Adam is eased into his meds, and then he's eased out of them. Not much happens. Which, of course, is fairly standard in the life of a mental health patient. But does it make for a good book? I'm not sure.

Words on Bathroom Walls

He says, “The next time we encounter someone with the illness, [I hope] we encounter them as a human first… seeing everyone as equal and seeing people as sort of suffering from an illness other than being the illness, that’s we wanted to leave audience members with.” This book is a solid YA romance that uses the same well known and apparently well loved plot line as all the other YA romance novels. You've read it before and you will read it again.

My mom told me something once, right after my dad left. You lose your secrets when you let people get too close. That was the was the scariest thing for her when she started dating. – Adam Eager to split the difference between age-appropriate entertainment and raw honesty, “Words on Bathroom Walls” hedges a bit in its final act, delivering the kind of happy ending only seen in movies — when have you ever seen someone give a dramatic speech that heals everything? — while slyly resisting tying things up in a neat bow. It’s not perfect, but the film makes the necessary assertion that nothing is, and that’s okay, turning an obvious lesson into something with the kind of weight such matters deserve. Grade: B- Johnson, G. Allen (November 4, 2020). "Review: Young talent carries 'Words on Bathroom Walls,' though much is left unsaid". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved November 26, 2023. As with almost anyone new in school, Adam must deal with a bully who believes he is better than anyone else because his parents are wealthy, but he also makes a good friend and tries keeping his head down as much as possible. And then he meets Maya—beautiful, fiercely intelligent and opinionated, and someone for whom Adam wants to remain well and act as "normally" as possible. But that means hiding a part of himself from her, even if she may be more observant than he realizes. 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, YALSAI'm so pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. A funny, honest, and relatable read depicting what it's like to live with mental illness.