I haven't felt so offended by a book in a long time. And there are so many reasons to find this book offensive. I'm also appalled that this book is being taught in my nephew's school. Not because it deals with predation, or hard subjects, but rather because just about every adult acts unethically and there is no actual resolution or redress of the larger issues that are raises.
Where shall i aim my vitriol first? Shall I start with the casual sexual predation, or maybe the awful adults that dismiss, blame and then attack the abused? I could drowned into the stilted, awful dialogue. Or gag to death on the throw away characters, a useless adventure subplot or the deus ex machina resolution?
Not only is the the main character subjected to on-going unethical and abusive situations, but her school leadership and counselor blame and accuse her for being attracted to her abuser and creating the situation. For a book written in 1999, this ham-fisted piece of tripe feels more like it came out of 1945. The only way that the situation is resolved is that a throw-away character pops into existence in the third act and
Also, has George Kershaw ever actually listened to a human person speak? Take this stilted, weird sentence: "It's only six weeks until the exams for the IB, the International Baccalaureate programme." Is it exposition? Is it dialogue? It's both, and scans like something a second grader would write. That a school would use this in an EAL literature class is even harder to swallow.
Uuuug. Don't read this garbage. It is bad for you.