Halli Gomez’s “List of Ten” is a Harrowing yet Hopeful story of a Teen living with Tourette Syndrome

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In this episode 286, we visit with Halli Gomez, author of “List of Ten,” where the number that dictates the young protagonist’s life is also the number on the list that will end it.

Ten: three little letters, one ordinary number. No big deal, right? But for Troy Hayes, a 16-year-old suffering from Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, the number ten dictates his life, forcing him to do everything by its exacting rhythm. Finally, fed up with the daily humiliation, loneliness, and physical pain he endures, Troy writes a list of ten things to do by the tenth anniversary of his diagnosis—culminating in suicide on the actual day.

“List of Ten” is the Recipient of the 2021 NC Young People’s Literature Award and Nominee for the 2022 Young Adult Library Services Association Best Fiction for Young Adults. Kirkus describes the novel as “an authentic and compassionate look at the ups and down of teenage life and living with Tourette syndrome,” and Nicole Lesperance, author of The Wide Starlight and The Nightmare Thief, says: “”I’m just… wrecked. It’s a stunning, difficult, powerful, heartfelt book, and it made me cry.”

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About the Author: 

Halli Gomez writes for children and young adults and works at her local independent bookstore. She has written several stories with neurodivergent characters including her young adult novel, LIST OF TEN (Sterling, March 2021)

When no one is looking, she sock skates through the house and talks to dogs like they are human. When people are looking, she enjoys reading, outdoors, and breaking out of escape rooms with her family. She is a fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo and taught martial arts for almost ten years. Halli lives in North Carolina with her husband, two boys, and two dogs.

Praise for the book:

“An authentic and compassionate look at the ups and down of teenage life and living with Tourette syndrome”

– Kirkus

“Told in the first person, this powerful novel takes readers into the emotional and physical depths of TS, feeling every pain and twitch… Readers will ponder how friendship means more than being perfect.”

– School Library Journal

“I’m just… wrecked. It’s a stunning, difficult, powerful, heartfelt book, and it made me cry.”

– Nicole Lesperance, author of The Wide Starlight and The Nightmare Thief

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