"Hate List" by Jennifer Brown

This is not just another book about bullying and a high school shooting. The main character of the book, Val, is the girlfriend of the shooter and the story is told from her perspective. Both she and her boyfriend, Nick, were constantly ridiculed and bullied by their classmates. Together, they created a list of names of classmates whom they hated and it was from that list that Nick chose who to shoot.. when he opened fire at school. For me, the story really began after the shooting. You will read about Val's summer and what she went through so she was able to take the first steps to move on with her life after such a tragedy. How she coped with the guilt she felt about the list she had helped to create. And, how she was able to return to the same high school for her senior year and face her classmates. But also, how some of the classmates who had been so cruel to Val and Nick felt about her and what Nick had done.

I could not put this book down, nor could I stop thinking about it once I finished it. In fact, thinking about this book kept me awake... revisiting my own high school years in the seventies, my daughters' high school years not all that long ago and wondering what my very young grandchildren's school years will be like in the future. Bullying has always been around, but being taken more seriously recently. No longer are victims told to "toughen up" or "develop thicker skin."

This is a young adult novel, but it is appropriate for young adults and older adults as well. Even though bullying is a very serious, unpleasant matter, this is a great read. I checked to see if the author is going to do a sequel, unfortunately she is not.