Play Book Tag discussion

Kate Baron is at work when she is interrupted by a call from the administrator of her daughter's private school. It appears her daughter, Amelia, has been suspended for cheating (plagiarism) and Kate needs to pick her up immediately. When Kate arrives over an hour later, she is told her by a police officer her daughter has jumped off the school roof and killed herself. A month after Amelia's death, Kate gets an anonymous text that says "She didn't jump".

Kate urges the police to reopen the investigation and it becomes evident that lies and secrets are at the heart of what really happened to Amelia. She also starts her own investigation and learns the hard way that she didn't know her fifteen-year-old daughter Amelia as well as she thought. Amelia has been hiding a secret life. Kate's investigation involves examining her daughter's texts, Facebook posts, emails and other social media. The complex relationship between Kate and Amelia is gradually revealed through a series of Kate chapters, Amelia chapters (told in flashback), and texts/emails/school gossip blog/Facebook posts of Amelia's.

The plot is well constructed and I thought the Amelia part of the narrative was especially haunting because we already know she's dead. I thought it was an intriguing book with engaging characters, and it shows how far teenagers will go for acceptance or love. We've seen how often social media plays a part in new ways of bullying children. I thought this book was one of the best examples of the suffocating effects of social media on teenage culture. What a scary time they live in. It is also a unique conversation starter for parents to have with their teen and pre-teen children