The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

Release Date: November 2, 2010

Amazon Says: Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

I say:

You guys.

This book? This book is amazing. It is going to win awards. People are going to love it. I loved it. It sends you on a whirlwind of emotions and doesn't let go of you until it's over. And here's the thing -- it felt so real.

Normally, books about such dark subjects are a touchy subject. They can be too dark, too preachy, too much to be real. The Mockingbirds wasn't at all. Alex is a wonderful protagonist. She's talented, smart, sarcastic. She's everything you want to be. But something awful has happened to her, and you hurt with her. But you also get to watch her heal.

The book starts out at the scene of the crime, but Alex can't remember anything. The event of the rape comes back to her through out the book. Normally, I don't like flashbacks. But the way Ms. Whitney pulls them off is not only effortless, but it keeps the awfulness of Alex's situation from rising up and swallowing you by splitting up the sad moments. It also makes it all the more powerful, because not one chapter throughout the book do you forget what happened.

If you get one thing from this review, though, I want it to be this; this book isn't depressing. I tried to explain it to a friend and she rolled her eyes, told me she didn't read books 'like that' -- she then went back to reading Moby Dick. She's worse off for that. The Mockingbirds is not 'that.' It isn't all dark. It's realistic and gritty and yes, awfully, horribly sad, but it's a story about redemption and healing. But, see, Ms. Whitney tells is way better than I just did, so you laugh and grin and roll your eyes at the fantastic dialog. You love her sister, her best friends -- Maia was my favorite, but that's because she's a debater and I'm biased -- and you fall in love with the boy you want Alex to be with. 

This book is honest. It's real. Teachers aren't always there for kids. It's sad and sick, but the administration can't always save teenagers -- even in places as 'perfect' as themis. But Alex's peers step up. She steps up. Her friends step up. And it turned out to be a really great book.

And best of all? If this had actually happened to me, or to someone I knew, or really just any girl, I think it could help them heal.

More later