Liz and Kate has been forever bests since they were six years old and are still best friends at sixteen. Liz is Photo Girl – taking amazing photographs and hoping to purse photography in college. Kate is Mistress of Modern Dance, but unsure exactly what she wants to do.
It’s their monthly sleepover – the only time dedicated to the two girls without outside interference, without threat of anyone taking time away from them, cocooned in the comfort of their friendship and lives. But a minor spark, a disagreement, gets in the way this one time, and for tonight, Kate sleeps on the couch, while Liz stays in her room.
But something happened….Kate avoids Liz, even after she apologizes for hurting Kate’s feelings. But nothing Liz can say could possibly prepare her for what Kate finally reveals to her. Mike, Liz’s brother, home from college, raped her….
Is it true or is Kate lying? Liz can’t possibly believe that her brother, the one who introduced Liz to Brian, the one whom she told Kate was off limits, could do this. Why would Kate make something like that up? Or is Mike the one who is lying? Consentual or forced? It not only ruins a friendship, but ruins Liz’s focus, not only with Kate but with those closest to her as well as her passion for photography. She feels out of focus….and still unsure about who is telling the truth….
A powerful novel in verse, the author sets the scene of the book without the reader possibly knowing what could have happened until they read it. It’s a look at relationships, not only between friends, but those that are familial as well. Marcus delves into the gray area that teens start to run into the older they get. No longer is life a clear division of opposites, but sometimes the lines blur. And that is what that author so clearly writes about. Who is truly innocent or guilty is left up to the reader, but the nuances allow a certain modicum of bias the reader will pick up on. An excellent first book for a new YA author. Recommended.
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