One Big Mess

by Melody Loomis

Fourteen-year-old Gracie Taylor lives in a messy house, but it’s not her mess. Her mother has been a compulsive hoarder for the last six years, and it’s only getting worse. Their kitchen is covered with towers of Tupperware. The dining room table is buried under clutter. And in the living room, clothing fills every available space.

Her back-at-home sister promises to help, but all she seems to do is argue with their mother. Her best friend Jilly is no help either. She’s too concerned about her new boyfriend at her new school to listen to Gracie’s problems. Meanwhile, her mother continues to fill the house with junk.

If Gracie can’t get her mother’s hoarding under control, she can kiss her dreams of film school goodbye. Gracie is the one who takes out the trash. Gracie is the one who keeps the toilets functional. Gracie is the one who clears the clutter blocking the exits. If left to her own devices, her mother would become a level five hoarder in no time.

Her only hope is to get her mother on Clean It Up!, a show that helps compulsive hoarders. But getting her on the show won’t be easy. Fortunately, with the help and support of her film club friends, Gracie forms a plan. It might just take filming the biggest documentary of her life to make it happen.

260 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 13, 2021

About the author

Melody Loomis writes adult contemporary romance and young adult fiction with female protagonists. She’s a member of the #5amwritersclub and enjoys posting pictures of her cats, Ava and Lucy, on social media. She works as a library assistant and lives in southeastern North Carolina.

Reviews

[Gail Gilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about a subject I've never seen addressed in a novel: The effects of hoarding on a teen trying to make new friends in a new school and on the family's relationships as a whole, and the ways in which our messes become other people's messes in ways we sometimes refuse to see or acknowledge. I found myself rooting for Gracie and her plan to clean up the mess around her, but also rooting for Jennifer because her hoarding, though so detrimental to her family, came from a place of deep pain. I became very invested in the outcome of Gracie's plan, and was a little sad to say goodbye to the characters when the book ended.

[Khristina Chess · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Big Mess is one big surprise!

Gracie is a teen living with a single parent who is grieving the loss of a child and copes through hoarding. The mess is overwhelming. Gracie is such an optimistic and hopeful girl who devises a plan to help her mom by trying to get her onto a reality TV show for hoarders. She's convinced that the show has the resources to provide therapy and cleanup that her mom won't take from Gracie and her sister.

I loved Gracie's character and her relationships with her friends, sister, and parents. I was rooting for her and her mom to find some way to clean things up.