| Melinda was raped at a party over the summer. She gets upset and calls the police on the party, and now everyone hates her. She couldn't tell her friends what happened, so they all deserted her and hate her. She is paranoid about boys all year. She begins to skip classes and whole days. Her old best friend Rachel (now Rachelle because she hangs out with the exchange students) is dating the boy who raped her. Melinda's parents are fighting with her and each other. She had one friend for a while, but then she left to hang out with the perfect kids. A boy in her class who seemed quiet suddenly spoke out and then they became friend-ish. He invites her over to celebrate a basketball victory but she freaks out and refuses even though she likes him. She also starts to be friends with her old friend Ivy, who helps her through some stuff. Melinda becomes a bit more normal. Melinda tells Rachel what happened at the party but she doesn't believe her and gets mad.Then at the prom, Rachel confronts Andy (the rapist) and he denies it, but she dumps him anyway. All year Melinda is working on an art theme of tree. At first they were bad, then they were all dead, then they were twisted and scarred, then at the end of the book the trees start to be more healing kind of wounded. (The trees reflect Melinda). Andy traps Melinda in the coat closet that she hangs out in during classes. He tries to rape her again. Melinda finally has the ability to say no and she breaks her mirror to hold glass to his neck. Her old friend Nicole finds them in there and tells everyone what really happened. At the very end, everyone knows what happened and are sympathetic toward her. They're sorry. Then Melinda is able to break her year-long silence and tells her art teacher what happened. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Romance/Romance Problems Yes Kids growing up/acting up? Yes Kids: - Kind of sex: - rape Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Age group of kid(s) in story: - high school Taboo sex story? Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - a teen Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - society Age: - a teen Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast City? Yes City: - rude people Small town? Yes Small town people: - hostile, like Gomer Pyle on steroids Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - rape/molest Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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