Hijacked by Goats - by Ann Braden (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The moving, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful story of a young girl struggling with anxiety and OCD--the bully "hijacking" her brain--and getting the help she needs to start her road to recovery.

Josie arrives at Bryce Haven Psychiatric Hospital knowing she's a bad person and a bad friend. She knows because her brain constantly berates her for not being good enough. It tells her she needs to be perfect--and if she's not, she'll be alone and miserable forever. Josie is so overwhelmed with worries about bad things happening as punishment for her imperfections, she often feels compelled to punish herself.

After Josie is discharged and returns home, she's annoyed to find Hal--the mean, smelly, bully of a goat her dad sometimes goatsits--is back. Hal has a bad habit of getting in the way by climbing on things and trying to block access.

When Josie's therapist diagnoses her with OCD and describes it as a bully in her brain, Josie denies it. Surely her brain is just trying to be helpful . . . right? But eventually, Josie begins to recognize her OCD as the bossy Hal-the-goat-like resident of her head that it is. And with her therapist's encouragement, the right medications, and the support of her dad and some good friends, Josie might finally be ready to start standing up to the bully in her brain.

About the Author

Ann Braden (AnnBradenBooks.com) is also the author of Into the Rapids, Opinions and Opossums, Flight of the Puffin, and The Benefits of Being an Octopus (an NPR Best Book). She writes books about kids trying to stand up for themselves even when things are tough. She founded the Local Love Brigade, which sends love postcards to those who are facing hate. She also founded GunSenseVT, a grassroots group that helped pass landmark gun violence prevention legislation. She has been a middle school teacher, the co-host of the children's book podcast Lifelines: Books That Bridge the Divide, and co-organizer of #KidsNeedMentors. She lives in southern Vermont with her husband, two children, and two insatiable cats.