We all know the stories.  The quiet whispers, the hushed tones used when words like “Columbine” are brought up. Even the recent Ohio school shooting rocked the nation to its core. We’ve seen the coverage on the news; the media hounding the school as helicopters circle ahead and the S.W.A.T team moves in. There have been books written by survivors. But never before have we read anything from a first person experience; someone other than a victim. Never before have we read anything from someone whose decisions helped contribute to the shooting. Never before have you read anything from the girlfriend of the shooter.

Valerie is bullied.  She listens to rock, the music her mother considers trash. She dyes her hair and wears grungy clothes and would rather draw than talk about the latest gossip. In a household rocked with parents headed towards a divorce, her only safe haven becomes Nick. Her boyfriend since freshman year, they battle the intensity of the bullying they both receive and share a notebook together. “The Hate List”: a way to vent frustration at the world to those who call them “freak” or Val’s personal nemesis, “Sister Death”. There is everything from fast-food commercials to the names of their parents on this 400-something count list.

Ordinarily, this was a treasured secret between the two, who were madly in love. At least it was a secret until May of their junior year. After a confrontation on the bus, Val heads over with Nick towards a bully who broke her MP3 player, hoping that her boyfriend would stick up for her. Standing by his side, Val watches, horrified, when their secret is revealed as Nick open fires in their school cafeteria…and begins shooting people on the “List”.

Desperately trying to stop him, Val accidentally saves the life of one of her bullies and gets shot in the process as she watches the panic flurry around her. She watches as Nick puts the gun to his head. Because of blurry security camera footage and her involvement with the soon-confiscated “List,” Val is labeled as a suspect.

Flash forward to the beginning of her senior school year. With a bullet wound in her thigh, Val must once again brave the demons that plaque her as she tries to navigate her new life. Secrets are revealed, friendships made and broken, families and are torn apart by tragedy. Her little brother distants himself from her, her parents don’t trust her, and they spend most of their time fighting in the kitchen after dinner. Her only santuary is art lessons after her therapist appointments, which is her only moment to sit back, think, and let her feelings come out unconsciously through her paintings.

Val is unsure if she is the hero or the villain in this story that is far from fairy tale.

I haven’t read a book in a long time that has truly affected me.  I read a lot of fluff, a lot of chick-flicks. “Hate List” by Jennifer Brown was well-written and  simply smart; it makes you think. The underlying messages about bullying and forgiveness sing throughout the book and you cannot put it down. I read it in one night because you need to know what happens.  It’s the kind of book everyone needs to read.