| This is a story about silence--the causes and effects, the costs and benefits, but mostly the breaching of it. Late summer before her freshman year in high school, Melinda calls 911 ending a party and becoming a pariah. The first day of class a few weeks later, she is left to talk with Heather, a new girl, while everyone else snickers or ignores her. Melinda's parents are not getting along, Heather deserts her for the Martha's, girls who dress, act, and try to think as one, and it appears in Melinda's dreams and around every corner. When day-to-day existence becomes too much to bear she takes refuge in a janitor's closet, to which she adds some posters and a comforter. But even there she's not safe from Andy Evans, the boy who raped her at the party and who is now dating the girl who used to be her best friend. Anderson provides the reader with hints of what happened at the party throughout the text, as Melinda attempts to break her silence and explain why she had to call 911. | ||
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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 How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 () United States Yes Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - rape/molest Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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