Multiple Choice
For as long as Monica Devon can remember, she has been two things: a whiz at making anagrams, and a perfectionist who spends most of her time obsessing about saying and doing the right thing. Now at fourteen, Monica’s compulsive habits have spiraled out of control. Seeing no other way out, she creates Multiple Choice, a game that will force spontaneity into her life, and, she hopes, free her from her obsessions. It seems so easy–create a list of options, choose a Scrabble tile, and carry out the act. At first the game is exciting and somewhat liberating. But soon it starts to go devastatingly wrong. Fortunately for Monica, help is closer than she thinks.

Accelerated Reader Rating: 4.9

    

This energetic, enjoyable problem novel is a must-read for wordsmiths." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Enlightening, insightful novel." - Booklist "Tashjian's story is as absorbing and cleverly constructed as a challenging word puzzle...The situations are realistic, and Monica's Multiple Choice questions add suspenseful page-turns. Readers with obsessive tendencies will especially empathize, but all adolescents can appreciate the book's basic message -- that it's okay to be yourself. -The Horn Book

A New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age A Children's Literature Choice A Young Hoosier Award Nominee Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice A Chicago Public Library 'Best of the Best' Book

Multiple Choice is a middle reader that leads to discussions not only about peer pressure and perfectionism, but of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  The anagrams and puzzles in the text add some fun to those serious topics.