Tease

March 10, 2014
Inspired by a real-life case of bullying and suicide, editor Maciel’s debut novel depicts a harsh environment of name-calling, both face-to-face and via social media, and girls policing other girls’ behavior. When new student Emma seems to have eyes for Sara’s boyfriend, Dylan, Sara and her best friend Brielle label Emma a slut. Maciel isn’t telling Emma’s story—she’s telling Sara’s, in sections that alternate between the escalating bullying and the aftermath, with Emma dead and Sara stuck in summer school and her lawyer’s and therapist’s offices. It’s hard to be with Sara as she insists that it’s Emma’s fault, that “No one hung the rope for her,” but as Maciel reveals Sara’s desperate efforts to hang onto a social viability that’s tied to Brielle and Dylan, the pressures of her world become clear. It’s to the author’s credit that she doesn’t make Sara immediately sympathetic, but the end, with Sara moving forward in a way that incorporates what happened rather than denying it, although welcome, feels rushed. Ages 14–up. Agent: Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Literary Agency. (May)■

April 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Who is responsible when a bullied teen commits suicide? Sara and her friends find themselves embroiled in a legal nightmare after new classmate Emma hangs herself following months of their ruthless harassment. In Sara's mind, Emma was at fault: she stole Sara's boyfriend, so retaliation was fair game, and suicide was an unwarranted overreaction. That the story is told from a bully's perspective adds complexity to this compelling, ripped-from-the-headlines novel. The characters are three-dimensional and nobody is completely right or wrong in this realistic exploration of how bullying-related suicide affects everyone involved. Sara is in denial about her reprehensible actions, and readers who love a flawed character will root for her as she comes to terms with her role in Emma's death. It's clear how easily Sara got caught up in the act of bullying through the influence of her mean-girl best friend, Brielle. The two carelessly indulge in cyberbullying as well as face-to-face taunting, effectively demonstrating how cruelty can seem so simple when there are no immediate consequences. Family bonds and a tentatively blossoming romance play a vital role in Sara's journey to self-awareness. This nuanced look at a controversial topic will keep readers hooked until its satisfying conclusion and makes great fodder for discussion among high school students.-Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
An intense examination of bullying from a seldom-heard-from side: the bully's. After months of physical and verbal intimidation, stalking and cyberbullying, 16-year-old Emma Putnam hangs herself. Her classmates, high school juniors Sara Wharton, Brielle Greggs, and several of their friends are being held accountable for playing a role in Emma's death. Sara narrates the story in chapters that alternate between the present and the two months leading up to Emma's death. Readers will surely hate Sara from the start. She shows no remorse for tormenting Emma, the school "slut," whom Sara sees as a threat intent on stealing her boyfriend, Dylan. Sara and Brielle launch a full-on campaign against Emma, with each "prank" more vicious than the last. After Emma's death, the bully becomes the bullied, and Sara finds herself being made fun of, ignored and called a slut herself. She finds a friend in summer school classmate Carmichael, who is sympathetic to both Sara and Emma and who reminds readers there are two sides to every story. The moving story is informed by the 2010 bullying and suicide of Massachusetts teen Phoebe Prince and is bound to open up debate on who is to blame when a bullied teen commits suicide. Maciel includes an author's note describing her decision to write the book as well as a list of anti-bullying resources. An emotional, deftly paced and heartbreaking first novel. (Fiction. 14-18)

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May 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Sara Wharton is a bully. But not, she insists, a murderer. However, Emma Putnam has committed suicide; she was literally bullied to death, and Sara has been criminally charged. Sara, though, blames Emma, who, she acidly thinks, got off easy. Self-pitying and not a bit sorry, she is a classic antiheroine . . . or is she? As the story moves back and forth in time, before and after the suicide, a fuller portrait emerges as Sara's first-person voice reveals essential details. Perhaps she might, in the end, come to terms with her actions and even find redemption. First-time novelist Maciel has done an exemplary job of giving readers a multidimensional portrait of a bully that is psychologically acute and emotionally resonant. Readers may not like Sara, but they will come to empathize with her as she discovers the meaning of remorse. Realistic and suffused with truth, Tease is an excellent choice for both independent reading and classroom use.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
Sara is climbing the high school social ladder when a new girl, Emma, steals her spotlight. Sara and her friends retaliate with pranks, rumors, and social media warfare, but all are shocked when Emma commits suicide. Sara is a fragile, conflicted narrator struggling to understand her role in Emma's death. A complex and thought-provoking examination of modern teen bullying.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)