Breaking Point: A Gripping YA Novel About Elite School Pressure, Manipulation, and Dangerous Choices

by Alex Flinn

How far would you go to fit in?

Paul is new to Gate, a school whose rich students make life miserable for anyone not like them. And Paul is definitely not like them. Then, something incredible happens. Charlie Good, a star student and athlete, invites Paul to join his elite inner circle. All Charlie wants is a few things in return—small things that Paul does willingly. Until one day Charlie wants something big—really big.

Now Paul has to decide how far he'll go to be one of the gang.

The electrifying follow-up to Alex Flinn's critically acclaimed debut novel, Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point is a tale of school violence that explores why and how a good kid can go 'bad'.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Contemporary, Teen, Coming Of Age, High School

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Love Jacaranda is out in the world! Hope you'll check out this fun wish-fulfillment romance!

Now, bio:

I grew up on a street called Salem Court. This probably influenced my interest in witches. When I was five, my mom said I should be an author. And when I was eight, I got my first rejection letter from Highlights Magazine.

I learned to read early. But I compensated for this early proficiency by absolutely refusing to read the programmed readers required by the school system -- workbooks where you read the story, then answered the questions. When the other kids were on Book 20, I was on Book 1! My teacher, Mrs. Zeiser, told my mother, "Alexandra marches to her own drummer." I don't think that was supposed to be a compliment.

My family moved to Miami when I was in middle school. I had a really hard time making friends, so I spent a lot of time reading and writing then. By high school, I'd made some friends and gotten involved in various "gifted and talented" performing arts programs. I studied opera in college (I'm a coloratura -- the really loud, high-pitched sopranos.) and then went to law school.

It was law school that probably helped with my first novel. Breathing Underwater deals with the serious and all-too-common problem of dating violence. I based the book on my experiences interning with the State Attorney's Office and volunteering with battered women. I thought this was a really important topic, as 27 percent of teenage girls surveyed have been hit by a boyfriend. I'm happy that the book is so popular, and if you are reading this bio because the book was assigned for school, I'm happy about that too.

I think I write for young-adults because I never quite got over being one. In my mind, I am still 13-years-old, running laps on the athletic field, wearing this really baggy white gymsuit. I’m continually amazed at the idea that I have a checking account and a mortgage. So I try to write books that gymsuit girl might enjoy. It’s a way of going back to being thirteen . . . knowing what I know now.

Right now, I live half a mile away from my old middle school, in Palmetto Bay, a suburb of Miami, with my husband, daughters, dogs, and cats.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this. Normally I really enjoy Alex Flinn but this novel was emotionally draining and the characters were NOT likable at all. I know I was supposed to feel empathy for the narrator, Paul, but he just seemed so weak and gullible to me. I found his family drama to be annoying, not something I empathized with. I also really hated Charlie Good, possibly because I kept picturing Check from Gossip Girl in my head...

[Guylou (Two Dogs and a Book) · Rating 3 out of 5]

📚 Hello Book Friends! BREAKING POINT by Alex Flinn was a difficult read about an angst teenager who is willing to do the unthinkable to gain the friendship of a popular boy at his new school. The story is well written and leads the reader on a journey of trouble, anger, and destruction. This book has a Columbine feel and will make you realise how fragile is the mental health of a teenager when it is manipulated by peer pressure and the desire to fit in.

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[Marita Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a nice tale, but it is certainly a cautionary one that I think would be good for teens to read: a lesson about trust, manipulation, and right and wrong. It follows the character of Paul who isn't doing too well in his new wealthy high school. He's a bully's dream: he's not wealthy (he's there only because his mother has a job at the school), he's tall and gawky, and isn't adept at making friends since he was home-schooled prior to this. So, right from go he is picked on. But, a popular student, Charlie Good takes him under his wing, stopping this from continuing. And Paul starts seeing this very manipulative psychotic person with rose-coloured glasses until it's too late. Charlie is a user, and plays on Paul's insecurities to get what he wants. All the way through I could see where this was heading. The outcome was obvious, but I could understand (to a point) how a naive person like Paul could miss all of the signs that he was being used. Plus, he was too caught up in his problems to see what Charlie was up too. But, what Paul did was still very wrong and he understood this in the end, but Charlie didn't. He was psychotic - totally psychotic. He was despicable, a murderer in the making who used his wits, charm and family to escape punishment.

This story is even more chilling with recent events in America. Again, it's not a nice tale, so don't go into it thinking there is a happily ever after, because there isn't. It's a warning for students, teachers, and parents.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breaking Point by Alex Flinn made me realize one very daunting fact... school is probably one of the most dangerous places to send our kids.

This book was far from being a fictional escape and more of a story about awareness and understanding with regards to school violence and why some kids resort to measures of destruction. Very scary and sad to say the least.

Paul Richmond is one of those privileged kids… if you can really consider him that. He is able to attend Gate Christian Academy on scholarship despite his lower social status because his mother is an employee of the school. Sounds like a great opportunity, but really it's not. He's bullied by the other students and never really has the chance to blend in with the crowd. To top it off, his father left the family, never returns his calls, he was home schooled for most of his life and now he finds himself in a situation where making friends is next to impossible. All that changes when Charlie Good crosses his path and gives Paul the golden pass into the inner circle. But the costs and consequences prove to be severe.

I despised Paul's father. He definitely made the upper echelon of Worst Parents in the World Club. His mother was worthy of sympathy, especially at the end. Charlie Good was bad.bad.bad… ironically. But, the students of Gate came across as realistic and the events are not improbable as we've witnessed time and time again on the news when it comes to school violence.

If you want to read an eye opener, this is the book for you. If you're looking for fictional la-la land… stay far far away from Breaking Point.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was as intriguing as it was disturbing. It's about a teenager who moves to a new school and doesn't have any friends, and who eventually gets bullied and pressured into joining a rich kid gang. But, there's a price as well. The plot of this book sincerely touched me towards the end, but it also really weirded me out. At times I felt that the story completely jumped the shark, but otherwise it was a decent read and Alex Flinn doesn't dissapoint.

[Chandni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that around this time there were a lot of novels about school shootings and scary loners who were trying to hurt their schoolmates, but this seems like a superficial, really poor caricature of those kinds of novels. Even though there isn't a school shooting, this book's plot is so ridiculous and I didn't connect with Paul at all. I really don't think this book is worth reading.

[Kaylan Daniels]

This book is really good to read it shows you that you can overcome anyone. Bella Caruso survived a nightmare of abuse and betrayal she has dedicated her life to saving other young women from the harm she went through. She tried different types of jobs like and officer of the law but when she took her work suit off she felt darkness and everything she overcome had taken over her again. Jt, Bella brother often worries about his sister. If you wanna know how to overcome being abused or harming things in life you should really read this book.

[Sarah (YA Love) · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the incredible popularity in my Y.A. Lit class of Alex Flinn’s other novel, Breathing Underwater, I knew I had to buy and read more of her novels. Breaking Point did not disappoint.

Just like in Breathing Underwater Alex Flinn has developed intense characters struggling with critical issues. Paul doesn’t fit in at Gate and no one lets him forget it. He’s tripped in the halls, his locker is vandalized, and he’s teased relentlessly. To top it off, his parents have divorced and his father acts like he doesn’t exist. He’s stuck living at home with his mom who won’t stop crying or pulling out her hair. So when Charlie starts paying attention to Paul, Paul’s all to eager to befriend him, even when a girl at school warns him against it. Their friendship starts with vandalizing property, and for a short period of time the harrassment at school stops for Paul. Until he does something to upset Charlie. Paul knows he shouldn’t stay friends with a person like this, but his loneliness gets the better of him. This starts a never-ending string of problems for Paul.

I like this novel because we, the readers, know that Charlie is up to no good. But Paul is too desperate for a friend to notice what’s really going on. When bad things happen at school, he’s the last to think that Charlie could be the culprit. At times during the story, I did question the believability of how extremely naive Paul is. Charlie knew personal things about Paul before they even started hanging out; he knew Paul’s mom was pulling out pieces of her hair. Creepy much?

This novel is very similar to Gail Giles’ novel Shattering Glass and Robert Cormier’s novel The Chocolate War, both of which I love. All three novels deal with the severity of bullying and school violence. As the novel progresses it’s obvious that Charlie really has no compassion for anyone and is always two steps ahead of everyone else. Paul is so damaged from family issues and the tortures at school that I was tense the entire time I was reading because I didn’t know when he was going to break. Students need to read this novel because they need to see what can happen if you let others take advantage of you. And more importantly, if you lose sight of you are. Paul needed to stand up for himself and talk to people about how he was feeling, not get sucked in to trouble disguised as a friend.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'We're going to be friends, Paul. That's my point. That's what I wanted to talk about." He met my eyes. "We're too much alike not to be friends.'"

It's strange how much one person can affect somebody's whole life.

Paul Richmond was an outcast. After splitting up with her husband, Paul's mom has kept him and homeschooled him. But now he's going to be the new kid at school, and Paul finds himself to be more alone than ever.

Paul meets strange people, like Binky, and David. But the other kids still torment him, and he can't help feeling like he needs friends bigger than Binky and David. He just wants to have a lot of friends and become popular.

But then he meets Charlie Good.

And everything changes.

Charlie is popular, and he's genuine. He's a great student and an athlete. He's different than everybody else. Paul feels safe around him, and he finds himself hanging out with him more often. His judgment changes about what is right and what is wrong. He starts neglecting people, like loyal Binky, and even his own mother, who plucks her own hairs from her scalp from worry and sadness.

But being friends with Charlie has a cost. Charlie asks for favors, small idle things that might or might not get Paul in trouble if he gets caught. But Paul's never had a friend, nothing like Charlie, and he can't risk loosing him.

But then Charlie asks Paul the unthinkable.

People could get hurt. Paul could get expelled. Everything could go wrong.

But does Paul really want to lose Charlie as a friend, after he's lost everybody else?

Breaking Point was disturbing for me. It reminded me of how bad things could get if you continue to hang onto a toxic relationship. It's truly scary. Everything was taken to the worst possible situation in this story, but it taught a good lesson. Pick people that are good to you. People can be manipulating. Don't let the wrong people control your life.

The moral is: Don't hang out with a Charlie Good.

"I'm a bat. Wanna see me fly?"

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul, a new kid that moved to Miami, is constantly picked on because he's poor. Paul goes to this expensive private school called Gate-Bicknell Christian. Paul is there free because his mother works in the school office. The jocks mercilessly pick on Paul by shooting spit-wads in his hair, mooning him in the hall, tripping him in class, and pouring cola down the slats of his locker. His only friend is a funny-looking girl named Binky. After all the cruelty he's been through, he still thinks he has a chance to be accepted. One day he meets this kid named Charlie Good, Charlie has a way to make paul accepted. That night, Charlie, and Charlie's gang, Meat and St. John, took Paul for some mailbox baseball. Paul got accepted as Charlie's gang, but there's a catch.

Just like Paul, I didn't feel accepted the first few days of middle school. Then I made a few new friends and all that changed.

I gave this book 4 stars because it was a good book. It had some disturbing parts, but it was good.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult books, or suspense.

[Koen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the start of the book and it is quite fun and interesting. I have just got to the part where the protagonist starts to talk to Charlie a seemingly popular kid in the school who will help him to fit in with others. I find it fun to read although little exciting things are happening yet, it is only the start of the book and as it well develop it will hopefully become a more lively book. Right now it seems like all the author talks about is his problems with family and friends in school and doesn't really develop these ideas and make them more lively for the audience. The book however becomes seemingly more fun to read once you are done with the first 10-20 pages.

This book has a very entertaining story throughout the entire way. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this because it relates to somewhat a school experience and since I go to school as well people around me might be in a similar situation. I encourage others to read this book as well that are currently around the teenage age.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters. There was also pretty much no point in throwing in a suicide since it was completely ignored, and that whole "ask Charlie who killed the dog" note was also pointless since the main character already assumed it was Charlie or one of his friends. Also, why was Binky a thing? Just to have the main character have a friend? That relationship was really lacking, as well as all the relationships in this book.
Two stars because I feel like this was a great message. Don't do things you normally wouldn't do just to fit in, because they could have serious consequences.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to like this. Really I did, but good grief. There was not one person in this book that I liked. Everyone (except for Binky) was absolutely detestable. I listened to it and I kept stopping it and listened to the radio, just to gather my strength to start listening again.

What a exhausting book.

I know that Alex Flinn is a popular author. This is the first of her books that I've read. I'll try again.

[Arlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flinn has definitely addressed a frightening side of school, parent, and government politics. I can certainly see the appeal of the book - it's interesting, fast moving, and fairly intense. I would recommend this book to students. However, I find the writing style is somewhat overly simplistic - it keeps the book from being great.

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A boy who is new at a private school makes friends with the wrong boy who slowly starts to convince him to plant a bomb in the school. This is a very dark book, with a dog being beheaded and a suicide.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn. I really want to like this book for the realism and honesty but I hated each character. I tried to have empathy for the narrator but just kept thinking your life really isn't that bad get a grip.

[Rachel Samlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even excusing the genre, weak characters.

[Troy Lockwood Lockwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book is called Breaking point by Alex Finn. This book is set in present time in Miami, Florida. It has a few settings like Paul's house, Charlie's house, and the school. I think that some of the main characters are Paul, Paul's Mom, Binky, and Charlie. I found this book because ei was looking for a fun book to read that is not too long. I pulled this one from the shelves and saw the broken mailbox on the cover and decided I wanted to check it out.

The book started out with Paul getting registered for his new school. He has a new school because his parents recently got divorced and he moved away with his mom. While he was getting registered he met Binky. She was his first friend at his new school. They would hang out all the time at school and out of it. He kept wondering why he was getting bullied all the time and Binky told him it was because he was the new kid. About a few months into the school year he was sleeping in his room when he heard a knock on his window. It was Charlie. He was the person Binky told him to stay away from. He didn't care though, that night he snuck out and smashed mailboxes with Charlie and his friends. They did this often now but Paul was mad because Charlie never acknowledged him at school. But one day after school Paul met with Charlie and Charlie had asked him if he could change his grade because his mom worked at the school. At first he said no but then after a few days he reconsidered. So one night he and Charlie went out and changed his grade. After that Charlie started to talk to him at school and he let him sit with each other at lunch. Charlie started to invite him over to his house too. One time when Paul was at Charlie's house Charlie had asked him if he wanted to pull a prank on the school and of course Paul said yes as long as they dont get caught. So then they did. The put a bomb in one of the class rooms in the middle of the night. The next day came around and they all went to the chapel before school. Then they waited for the bomb to go off and it did. The entire school had to stay out at the football field and wait for the okay to go back inside but it never came. The next day at school there was a bunch of police officers interrogating kids and when they got to Paul he gave in and confessed everything. They both got expelled and both had to go to juvy.

I liked how the book ended because it was kinda suspenseful. It ended with Charlie's mom helping Paul to get a lower sentence and not tried as an adult. If he wasn't tried as an adult then he would only be in juvie until he's 18 so it would be 2 years. But id he was tried as an adult he would get tried for attempt of murder and most likely found guilty fo than and ruin his life. But it never tells you what happens to him. So that's why I like the ending of this book.

This book was good. I haven't read a lot of books like this. I've mostly read diary of wimpy kid books or goose bumps so I don't know if there are similar books but there probably are. I would recommend this book to people who like suspense and thrills.This book is interesting because it has a lot of parts where you have no idea what's going to happen next. Like this one part there is this kid named David but then he was super sad from getting bullied so he wanted to commit suicide but Paul wouldn't let him. He was about to come down but this jock came to grab him but missed and accidentally pushed him off the edge and he ended up dying. But if you like books like that then you probably would want to read this one.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was neither easy to read nor enjoyable. But I don’t think it was supposed to be either. I can’t think of a single character in this book I liked… I understand that Flinn is trying to create awareness, an understanding that allows us to see into the horror that is school and teen violence, what drives those who do these awful things to the breaking point. There are warnings in this book and things that make me want to scream in disgust at the horrible creatures that walk this earth with me. But so so many of them are products of the world we live in, the enablement and entitlement that we have created by sheltering generations of humans from discipline and accountability. It’s disgusting, but mostly because it’s also so uncomfortably true. I would never recommend this book to anyone. But I understand why it exists.

[Carmen Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book touches on the idea of bullying and manipulation. People will do so much to fit in even things that will result in ruining their life. The main character, Paul, seems very troubled and his life doesn't seem that far from most teenagers life. It's sad to see how much he will do to please Charlie Good. I think this book is very relevant because bullying is such a big problem with middle and high schools. The structure and events that occur are very well put together and weaved together.

[Isaiah Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am someone who does not like to read much. Although when I picked up this book it was so interesting that I read it every day. Some parts I had thought were a little drawn on like whenever Paul was talking about how his parents had gotten divorced. What I did like was when Paul came into Gate and was immediately an outcast. That showed him to not expect what something should be. In all, I liked this book and would recommend this book to someone who feels like an outcast while the issue is beating you down.

[natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

how does flinn go from writing something so complex and interesting and gripping as this novel to writing trashy modern fairy tale adaptations? bc this book was one of my favorites in my recent reads but I probably won't read any of flinn's other books. all this to say that this story drew me in and never lost me for a second, it was the first book in a long time that I've finished like that and I want more like it

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably best I didn't read this book when I was in high school. I'm too sympathetic to the protagonist's plight. What a depressing story. But, as always, Flinn is an amazing writer.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting and quick read. Young Adult. Drama.

[Haley S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how it had realistic reactions to things in it and was easy to imagine what a scene was like.

[Devin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow this was a let down

[Kristena Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this so much since middle school. My teacher had a signed copy and I took it. Oops sorry Miss M., then lost it! I would read this every chance I got!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, no complaints. Shows a side of bullying that may not be as obvious for others around them or even themselves. Cant remember that much from it.

[luiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alissa Hall]

So far this book is keeping my attention. It has made me frustrated, sad, angry, and happy. Im only on chapter 9 out of 36.