GENRE: Fiction
HONORS:2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults
American Library Association Quick Picks for Young Adults
Michael L. Printz Award - Honor
National Book Awards - Finalist
Booklist Editors' Choice
Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year (amongst many others)
REVIEW: No one, not even the readers of this book (unless you read the jacket synopsis) know why Melinda Sordino has given up trying to socialize with her peers. She once had friends, but in the start of freshman year, they have all turned away from her. She has become a loner. Her parents seem uninvolved and her grades have dropped. Sometimes she even ditches class to escape. Anderson captures the social pressures of high school, but even more the trauma that occurs to many women when they have been raped. In this case Melinda did not feel like she had anyone to turn to, and it took a long time for her to gain the courage to tell anyone.
OPINION: This decorated book deserves all the awards that it has been given. It shows how tough a young adult's life can be, especially with the fear and isolation that one faces with being sexually violated. Anderson conveys that it is not always the parents or the authorities that can help; sometimes the smallest gestures of peers and outlets of expression can build one's self esteem.
IDEAS: Banned Book Week, as well as Rape and Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.
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