BAIT by Alex Sanchez

Bait was about a boy named Diego who was suffering with a horrible secret. The secret was he was raped and abused when he was younger by his stepfather. This caused him to worry he'd be gay or even turn gay. Than one day a boy at school who was gay was staring at Diego, Diego told him to stop and he wouldn't so Diego punched him in the face. This is when he met his PO (Parole Officer) Mr. Vidas. As he began to open up with Mr. Vidas we found out that Diego had tried to tell his mom that this was happening but when he brought it up she slapped him across the face, she wouldn't listen to him. Diego started to feel more and more comfortable with Mr. Vidas but once this happened he felt like he was being taken away because Mr. Vidas decided against having him be on Parole. Diego felt betrayed and worried Mr. Vidas was the only male figure Diego had in his life and he wasn't about to lose that. So Diego requested to have probation so he could talk more to Mr. Vidas. Mr. Vidas had no idea Diego was cutting him self and soon found out. After this, all Diego's secrets began spilling out eventually leading to Mr. Vidas' secret also being found out. Mr. Vidas is gay. Diego immediately felt betrayed and decided he was going into the ocean to fight the shark that appeared in his dreams so often. After almost drowning Diego made it back to shore and decided to talk to Mr. Vidas about what he had learned. Mr. Vidas confirmed to him that he was in fact gay and told Diego that he'd never hurt him, and Diego soon trusted him again. Eventually Mr. Vidas sent up a meeting with Diego's mom & himself and Diego told her about the abuse. Soon after opening up their relationship got better, and Mr. V tried an activity asking Diego to imagine that he could say what he always wanted to say to his stepfather (Mac). After this activity Diego began to feel like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, everything from then on out got much better.

I learned a lot about the struggle people go through when their abused and how it can really effect their lives if they don't talk about it. Also i learned how much impact not having a father figure in someones life can be.

An excellent book really draws you in and you can feel the pain Diego is suffering. And how desperate he is for a male figure in his life.

Recommended for grades 9-12 and adults


KH in Greenville

WHEN SHE HOLLERS by Cynthia Voigt

Tish is hiding a secret, a secret that is running her life and making her ashamed. Tish is being raped by her stepfather (sometimes called her father). Tish's stepfather taunts her and her mother just blocks it out. Tish finally gets fed up and gets a survival knife, the only thing that makes her feel safe. She threatens her stepfather with the knife but he just laughs it off. Finally after battling with her stepfather she heads off to school where all the talk is about the girl named Miranda (they call her Randy) who committed suicide. Miranda was 6 months pregnant. After Tish and her friends talk about this she heads off to gym, with the survival knife still in her Docs. Her coach tells her she'll have to take off her Docs and she refuses, this means she'll have to give up her protection. She refuses which leads into the coach trying to take off Tish's shoes causing Tish to scream and freak out scaring her entire gym class. Also it sends her to the nurse & eventually to the office. This is where she gets told her stepfather is on his way to get her, she can't have this. She asks to go the the bathroom and runs, fighting off Chrissie & Kipper, and ending up in Chrissie's fathers office (he is a lawyer). She ends up telling him what he did to her and he tells her he'll testify and he'll protect her. Tish now goes home and must face her stepfather Tonnie, but she still has her protection, her knife.

There is always help & you don't need to face these types of things alone, all Tish needed was Chrissie's Dad's help.

I wouldn't really recommend this book. Tish had me really confused all throughout the book. I wasn't sure what was going on most of the time. Half the time it had me thinking that Tish was pregnant herself, plus the ending didn't really explain much, it had you wanting more.

Recommended for all teens.


KH in Greenville

SHUT UP by Marilyn Reynolds

SHUT UP is about a boy named Mario and what he and his family goes through. First his mother gets shipped off to Iraq and Mario and his little brother Eddie stays at their Aunt Carmen's house. Now, Aunt Carmen has a boyfriend named Denton whom she thinks is the most perfect man in the world, but he has a secret. Denton is a pedophile and he is after Eddie. So, Mario protects Eddie, as he had promised his mother, but he ends up losing what was once importance to him, including a girl but turns out she wasn't all that. In the end, Mario becomes more aware of what he wants to do in life instead of being a firefighter and knows what's really important besides parties.

You should take action if you know any information about someone getting hurt. People should not just think about themselves, they need to help their friends and people that they know who are in trouble. People can not just stand by the sidelines when they know someone is getting hurt.

SHUT UP is a really good read. It really makes you more aware about the world and how people really treat one another when they are in trouble. SHUT UP will make you annoyed and angry at the characters, but nevertheless it is a fantastic book. It does have inappropriate content, so be aware of that.

Recommended for grades 9-12.


JN in Howland

EXPOSED by Susan Vaught

Exposed is about a girl named Chandra, she is smart, average (or so she thinks) and a baton twirler. Her father has had a heart attack and won't stop eating and her mother and sister are driving her crazy. She has also had troubles with an ex-boyfriend and now the whole school (except for a few people) look at her in a bad light. Chandra knows that she will never find love in her school after what happened between her and her ex-boyfriend, so she goes online to find one. When Chandra finds Paul she thinks she is in love until she finds out that he is talking to her little sister too. In the end Chandra learns that no matter how safe you are being on the internet you are never too safe.

The internet is dangerous and filled with dangerous people. One can never be too safe in protecting oneself on the internet.

EXPOSED shows what can happen to people who aren't safe on the internet and the consequences of not being safe.

Recommended for grades 9-10.


JN in Howland

LIVING DEAD GIRL by Elizabeth Scott

This book was about a girl named Kyla who gets turned into an "Alice". Kyla was on at trip to an aquarium with her school, she ends up getting lost and gets help from a nice man with a baseball cap named Ray. He takes her home, rapes her and tells her bad things will happen if she leaves. She's now his property; she's now his "Alice."

This is an absolute page turner from start to finish. You really want to follow her journey to see if she ever escapes.

Recommended for Grades 11 - 12 and Adults.


KH in Greenville

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda Sordino begins her freshman year at high school ostracized by her fellow classmates and literally alone. She is tormented by memories of her rape that took place over the summer, cannot talk about it, and rather expresses herself by creating trees in art class. With the help of her art teacher and Maya Angelo, Melinda must learn to speak out.

A requirement in most ninth grade English classes, this novel is helpful in understanding the mind of a sexually abused teenage girl.

I have many friends who have enjoyed Speak, but I personally did not find Melinda's head an enjoyable place to be, mainly due to the writing style.

Recommended for Grades 9 - 12


RVK in Esopus