This might be my third or fourth time reading this book, as I'm pretty sure it was required for one of the classes I took in grad school, and I definitely also read it when I was in high school. But I think this book stands up incredibly well, despite being published in 1999. The issues about rape and sexual assault are (unfortunately) still relevant to teens, and Anderson is one of the best when it comes with dealing with difficult topics in YA books.

Having heard Anderson speak about this book and her sort-of sequel, Shout, I really just admire her as a person. She puts so much of her passion into her books, passion for teens to have their voices heard. She's definitely a staple when it comes to YA, and if you read any of her books, you can see why.

Anyway, I read this for a banned book club and I think it will definitely make for an interesting discussion tonight! Especially since we read Thirteen Reasons Why recently, and this book deals with the sexual assault infinitely better than that book did. Infinitely better.