Uncomfortable issues, two reviews for a couple of amazing books

Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown

I did not want to read this book.  It made me uncomfortable, and I must have put it down about half a dozen times to take a walk around the room, before I finally just sat down to finish it.  I do think my reaction has to do with teaching in a high school, and having a teenage daughter. Thousand Words come across as a very believable portrayal of the social, emotional, and professional fallout from sexting.  Mistakes are made by teens and adults on both sides of this issue, making this a great book to use for talking points, and my own philosophy of living vicariously through fiction.  DON’T BE STUPID, PEOPLE!

Some Boys by Patty Blount

An excellent portrayal of how a rape victim is treated by society.  Some Boys tells the story of Grace after her rape by Zac, a popular lacrosse player, who filmed part of the encounter and posted it online to refute Grace’s claim. The narration is told from two points of view, Grace and Ian, Zac’s best friend, during spring break when they share locker cleaning duty as disciplinary treatment for outbursts at school.  They have liked each other in the past but the rape and subsequent social fallout have made a relationship near impossible.  

Blaming the victim, rape culture, gender roles, and expectations are all taken in this book.  Many people need to hear about these issues, and I want Some Boys to be more than a voice crying in the wilderness. #shoutingback is a hashtag used by a tumblr blog and Twitter page called Everyday Sexism where women can share their stories of harassment to help call attention to the problems they encounter everyday.