I remember seeing this book prominently displayed in bookstores and in the library when it came out, and I was in junior high. But somehow I never read it until now, in the context of a particularly loud and organized wave of book bannings and challenges. This book, which deals with themes of sexual assault, has been banned and challenged ever since it was published. It tells the first person story of Melinda, a high school freshman, who was raped just before the start of the school year at a party. She called the police, but didn't stay long enough to see them arrive, and told no one about what happened to her. She enters high school as a social pariah; all of her elementary school friends have abandoned her, and she slowly sinks deeper and deeper into silence and depression. Yet, the book isn't all heavy- it contains a dry observational voice with flashes of sharp humor and deep insight. The short chapters keep the story moving briskly through the school year, until Melinda is finally able to speak up for herself. I listened to the 20th anniversary audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, Mandy Siegfried, and the introduction written and read by Ashley C Ford and afterward written and read by Jason Reynolds. This is an important book, and a good book, and it lives up to its reputation!