Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes

Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes delves into the challenging life of seventh-grader Annabelle, whose mother struggles with compulsive hoarding. The family home is a chaotic maze of collected items, a secret Annabelle guards fiercely, leading to isolation and shame. The narrative intensifies when a pile of hoarded newspapers falls on her younger sister, Leslie, prompting their grandmother's intervention. This event forces Annabelle to confront the reality that secrecy only perpetuates their problems and that seeking help, though terrifying, is the only path to change. This book offers a poignant look at mental health, family dynamics, and the bravery required to speak up.

Seventh-grader Annabelle's mother is a hoarder, and their whole house is full of canned goods, broken toys, fabric, and old newspapers--but when a pile of newspapers (organized by weather reports) falls on Annabelle's younger sister Leslie and their mother is more concerned about the newspapers, it sets off a chain of events that brings their fix-it-all grandmother in and Annabelle realizes that if there is any hope for change she can not isolate herself and keep her family's problems secret.