Words on Bathroom Walls

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton follows a 16-year-old boy with schizophrenia as he navigates mental illness, life at a new school, and a clinical drug trial. The book won the Yalsa Best Fiction for Young Adults award in 2018 and was a nominee for the Rhode Island Teen Book award. Roadside Attractions released a feature film of the same name based on the book in August 2020.

This guide follows the 2017 Random House version of Words on Bathroom Walls.

Plot Summary

Words on Bathroom Walls takes place during Adam Petrazelli’s junior year of high school. The book is told in a series of journal entries Adam writes as part of his clinical drug trial for ToZaPrex. Adam was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia several years ago, and he hopes ToZaPrex will let him live a “normal” life. Throughout the book, Walton has Adam describe himself as “crazy” and refer to life without mental illness as “normal.”

Shortly before the school year begins, aside from his schizophrenia and the ToZaPrex trial, Adam worries about things “normal” teenagers worry about—life at a new school, making friends, and his relationship with his stepfather. The school staff knows about his illness and that they are not permitted to tell anyone about it. Adam is grateful for this and decides he, too, will keep his schizophrenia a secret. He hopes the ToZaPrex will work well enough that he never has to tell anyone he has schizophrenia.

At school, Adam makes friends with Maya Salvador and Dwight Olberman, and makes an enemy of Ian Stone. As his ToZaPrex dosage increases, Adam struggles less with determining what’s real, and his hallucinations don’t frighten him like they used to. After he saves Maya from drowning, they spend more time together, eventually becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

Another increase in the ToZaPrex dosage has Adam experiencing more hallucinations, but he can tell they aren’t real, so doesn’t worry about them. Right before Christmas, his mother tells him she’s pregnant, and after the holidays, he learns of a school shooting in Connecticut. The shooter had also been diagnosed with mental illness, which leads to unkind things being said at Adam’s school. These words solidify his desire to hide his schizophrenia, sure he would be shunned if people knew the truth.

In March, Adam learns his body shows signs of resisting the ToZaPrex. For his safety, he will be taken off the drug and out of the research study. Since it’s unsafe to just stop the drug, the dosage is gradually lowered, but this causes Adam to experience more distressing hallucinations. He struggles with telling hallucinations from reality, and it becomes more difficult for him to keep his schizophrenia a secret. At a school assembly, some of Adam’s more disruptive hallucinations appear, forcing him to leave to collect himself. He loses control, and Ian manages to take a video of Adam’s outburst.

When it comes time for prom, Adam’s mother and stepfather say he shouldn’t go. Unwilling to disappoint Maya, Adam takes several ToZaPrex pills and sneaks off to prom. During a slow song, Ian replaces the strobe light effects with the video of Adam’s breakdown in the bathroom. Adam runs away and injures himself. He goes to the hospital, and everyone at school learns about his schizophrenia.

Adam stops taking the ToZaPrex while he stays in the hospital. When he goes home, Dwight visits, acting like nothing has changed. Adam tries to break things off with Maya, but she wants to stay together and vows to help him. Adam’s mother has the baby, and Adam starts the process of finding another drug that might help him manage the schizophrenia.