Review: Intense story - all young people should read and understand
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 24, 2012
This is a young adult fiction, but it is very intense.  Two teenage girls engage in questionable behavior at a party, have it captured on cell phone pictures, and spread throughout the school.  As a result, they face discipline from the school and an extremely difficult senior year, no longer part of the crowd that had been their life prior to the event.  The girls must face ridicule, bullying, and rejection.While the whole story was difficult to enjoy, I thought the writing was very well done and the characters seemed very realistic.  Their reactions to the events seem very much like what one would expect.There are some powerful lessons here and perhaps teenagers should read the book just to understand the terrible destructive power of bullying.  They can also see how quickly a "perfect" world can fall apart when just a few poor decisions are made.Both of these girls must face some hard times, and they do it differently.  While one withdraws more and more, up to the point of attempting suicide, the other just tries to get through each day without upsetting anyone.  Along the way, they learn about standing up for yourself, staying true to friends, and about how important it is to speak out when things feel wrong.Just a few different decisions would have made all the difference.  This book is a hard lesson, but perhaps reading about it could help save someone from actually having to live it.I received a copy of this book in exchange for writing a review.