Nothing prepared me for how excellent this book is–not just as a story, which I couldn’t stop thinking about to the point I lost sleep, and not just as a political statement (about rape and rape culture and cheerleading as sport and abortion and faith).

And I was prepared!
–I read a interview with EK Johnston about this book in which she called it the most “fantasy” thing she’s written.
–I attended a conference with Andrew Karre who described a particular scene in this book as the kind of honest, gritty stuff he’s looking for in books he edits.

Still, nothing.

It’s that revolutionary.

I’ve asked our library at the school where I teach to order five copies, and I plan to recommend this book far and wide, teach it in my WNDB unit, and specifically recommend it to kids who’ve already read SPEAK and ALL THE RAGE.

PS) Hermione Winters and Polly Oliver effing rock. And Pastor Rob and Officer Palermo and Caledon (sp?) and even Hermione’s parents are pretty great too.