The Hate List by Jennifer Brown, 407 p.

In light of recent shootings and the rise of bullying in schools, this is an interesting look at the struggles that teens face, but also questions how each of us perceive the world and our place in it. Brown doesn't give any easy answers or lay blame, but points to the need for communication, compassion and forgiveness to begin the healing process.

The book begins after a shooting at Garvin High School perpetrated by 16 year old Nick Levil. Told through the eyes of the shooter's girlfriend, Valerie. Through a series of flashbacks we experience her past and current struggles to not only move past the horrendous act, but also to come to grips with the realization that Nick, the boy she thought she knew could become this monster everyone now despises. The interesting twist is that Valerie is seen as a possible accomplice due to the hate list that she and Nick created of all the people who were mean and cruel to them in high school. Although she dove in front of Nick, getting shot herself in order to stop the shooting spree, even Valerie's parents doubt her innocence in the affair. As Valerie struggles to return to school and pick up the pieces of her life, she begins to wonder herself. How could she not have know what Nick was planning?

Brown's book is an amazing look at a sensitive subject. When does teasing cross the line to bullying? Who in high school hasn't been made fun of or laughed at? Why does it roll off some and not others? What responsibility does each of us have to ourselves and to each other as we all struggle to fit in? This book is compelling enough to force you to continue reading but it also has the substance to make you think how things could have and should have been different.