70 pages • 2 hours read
Teresa TotenThe Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 19-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary
Adam feels happy and normal after his call with Robyn, but he still worries that she is just messing with him and that he’ll lose her. He decides to do the List. He writes that Robyn is his one true love; that if he is courageous and normal, then Robyn will love him back; and that he believes it is possible to get “fixed” and that somehow his mom will get help too. He also writes that Ben Stones is still his best friend but maybe the guys in Group are his friends, too. He knows that his mom, dad, Brenda, and Sweetie all love him and worry about him; that lying is sick, though everybody lies; and that thresholds are becoming a bigger problem, even at school and at home. He thinks he’s a coward but resolves to work on that.
His last List item explains his compulsions. He writes, “I believe there are times that my molecules are nuclear and that they’ll explode, raining radiation on all those I love unless I execute certain cleansing and clearing rituals, but I’m going to work on that too” (134). After finishing the List, he feels relieved, but he also hates confronting reality. He reads it again before ripping it to shreds and taking two Ativans.
Chapter 20 Summary
In Group, Adam has trouble focusing because he’s been taking too many Ativans; he makes a mental note to cut back. Chuck suggests taking a trip to a coffee shop for their last group session of the semester. At the coffee shop, Adam doesn’t know what to order, so Thor tells him to get a black Americano with a double shot of espresso. Chuck toasts to a good semester of Group and all their progress. Adam makes a toast to Chuck for his help in turning them all into superheroes. After Group, Robyn tells Adam she isn’t walking today because she’s meeting her dad at his office. Adam is disappointed; he had wanted to give her a present, a small crystal bottle he got at an antique shop that he filled with Holy water. However, Robyn invites him to come over one day during the holiday break.
Chapter 21 Summary
Christmas is usually rough for Adam; because of the divorce, there is a lot of fighting between his two houses. Adam thinks he’s at fault. This year he spends Christmas Eve with his mom and Christmas Day with his dad, so there’s no fighting.
He and his mom exchange gifts. One of her presents to him is two full garbage bags that she threw away. She said will throw away two bags a week until the clutter is gone. His dad gives him a $300 gift card to a game store in the mall, and Sweetie gets him a Batman beach towel. Adam loves all his presents.
One day during the holiday break, his dad drives him over to Robyn’s house; Adam still hasn’t admitted that he doesn’t live close to her. His dad gives him encouragement before he goes in, advising him to compliment her shoes and avoid babbling.
Chapter 22 Summary
Adam doesn’t have any issue entering Robyn’s house, and they enter Robyn’s kitchen, where her housekeeper Maria is making hot chocolate. Robyn tells Maria that Adam is helping her learn about being Catholic but reminds her to not tell her dad. They gossip about Group mostly, and Robyn asks if he had any trouble with the door, referring to his threshold issue. Robyn says Adam makes her feel good and praying helps make her feel better now that she’s off her medication. When it’s time for her dad to come home, Robyn tells Adam he has to leave. Before he goes, they exchange gifts. She gives him a Batman mug filled with chocolate-covered coffee beans, and he gives her the Holy water in the antique bottle. Then, Robyn confesses that she lied about her mom dying by suicide. The truth is that she died of breast cancer. When all of Robyn’s compulsions, thoughts, and cutting started, she thought she needed a bigger reason for it all, so she lied. He tells her everybody lies, and she hugs him and gives him a kiss on the cheek.
Chapter 23 Summary
Adam takes the bus home and must do his ritual before opening his front door. He can’t do it at first and freaks out. It’s been taking him longer and longer to “clear” his door. Frustrated, he thinks, “He knew it must be bullshit, just his stupid thoughts; it meant nothing, didn’t do a damn thing. Yet he felt the need to layer on ever-newer rituals in order to keep his mother safe, in order for it to feel ‘just right’” (164). He hears his mom crying inside, so he focuses on finishing the ritual. She’s in the kitchen with red eyes but smiling. She wants to hear about his Christmas and his visit with Robyn. He apologizes for not telling her about Robyn sooner, and she says it’s okay. She asks him to take out the trash, and he sees a letter crumpled up in a ball. She must have not had enough time to rip it up. Adam takes the trash outside and picks up one of the bags she threw out as his present. He notices that it’s very light, so he cuts it open to discover she hasn’t thrown away anything. It’s only newspapers; she was lying the whole time.
Chapter 24 Summary
Adam spends New Years drinking Red Bulls with his friend Ben, then he spends some days at his dad and Brenda’s house. It’s very relaxing, except he notices he is running out of medication and needs to ask Chuck for more. Robyn returns from vacationing with her dad, and they’re able to call each other a few times. Sweetie mimics Adam while he talks on the phone. He promises Sweetie he will bake with him if he leaves Adam alone.
When it’s time for Adam to leave, Sweetie is inconsolable, insisting that he and Brenda and their dad love him more than Carmella and that he shouldn’t leave. His dad yells at Sweetie and then drives Adam home. Adam tells him not to wait until he gets inside so his dad won’t see him doing his cleansing rituals. When Adam gets inside, he goes straight to his room to look at the letter. It is even harsher than he imagined, with lines such as, “Why are you still breathing, you slovenly cow?” and “You are ruining your son’s life and threatening his world. Kill yourself before it’s too late” (173). He feels so sorry for his mom and doesn’t know what he’s going to do.
Chapters 18-24 Analysis
These chapters depict several crucial developments in Adam’s interpersonal relationships and his journey toward recovery. First, Adam’s lists help document where he stands on his road to recovery while also revealing how different things and people in his life are affecting him. The latest List makes clear that Adam’s threshold issue is presenting a huge roadblock for him. His compulsions stem from a fear that his “molecules are nuclear and that they’ll explode, raining radiation” on his loved ones unless he executes his rituals perfectly (134). This demonstrates that Adam’s OCD compulsions are directly related to protecting his loved ones. He simultaneously feels that he is the cause of chaos in his life and that he must be his family’s protector and fighting hero. However, Adam is recognizing that these rituals are based in fear—fear of instability, fear of lack of control, fear of losing his loved ones—and he resolves to continue working toward recovery. That fact that these fears can be traced back to his home life suggests that Adam cannot achieve recovery while still living in that environment.
Additionally, the lists connect to the theme of confronting one’s fears and reality because they force Adam to be honest about what he believes to be true. It is one thing to constantly overthink things in his head, but he consistently avoids completing his list homework to delay this confrontation with the real world. It’s difficult for him to write about his struggles with OCD, his mother’s letters, and his complicated relationships with others. Admitting these realities to himself marks another step on his journey toward recovery, but the process is not linear. Upon finishing this list and confronting the truth, Adam feels shame. Rather than save it for his next therapy session, he throws the list away, saying, “He remembered now why he hated doing these. Full-frontal reality. Reality sucked” (132). Recovery will require more than acknowledging the truth; to get better, Adam must also accept it so he can take steps to improve it. Recovery will also require vulnerability, coming clean about his secrets and learning to lean on his friends and therapist for support. Adam’s destruction of the list shows he’s still resistant to this process.
Lastly, Robyn reveals that she lied to Adam about her mother’s cause of death. Throughout the novel the motif of secrets and lies connects to the theme of facing reality. By lying, Robyn was trying to change herself or change how others perceived her. Like Adam, she fears being judged and lies to cope. By admitting her lie, Robyn demonstrates growth, accepting reality even though it means exposing herself to judgment. Because Adam is familiar with this dilemma and is coming to understand that everybody lies, it is easy for him to forgive her. This helps establish Robyn’s trust in him as they continue to grow closer; it also shows that Adam is maturing and continues to be a good friend to the people around him.
Learning that his mom is also lying to him emphasizes the damaging effect that secrets and lies can have on people and relationships, as her continued denial and refusal to get help has created an unhealthy environment for her son. Yet Adam is discovering that there are complex reasons behind why people do things, especially when they lie or hide the truth. While he is still stuck on how to best help his mom, he remains an understanding son, friend, and brother, demonstrating his considerable capacity for kindness and empathy.
