What We Saw

August 31, 2015
Hartzler (Rapture Practice) moves from memoir to fiction with a novel that strongly echoes the Steubenville High School rape case in 2012. Teens at an Iowa high school are left reeling after a photo surfaces online showing a classmate drunk and topless during a party; soon, four students are arrested for sexually assaulting her. If characterizations sometimes take a backseat to the headline-grabbing plot, Hartzler captures the small-town vibe of a place so insulated that residents know the jersey numbers of the varsity basketball team but not the names of their legislators. Narrator Kate Weston questions the knee-jerk reactions of many of her peers, who slut-shame the girl and side with the accused athletes, while negotiating a new romance with Ben, a longtime childhood friend and member of the school's basketball team. Hartzler offers a thought-provoking look at victim blaming, the pressures of a win-at-all-costs athletic program, and the tendencies of schools and teams to circle the wagons and protect their own while hammering at the obligation of bystanders to speak the truth. Ages 14âup. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Starred review from June 15, 2015
In a fictional analog of the 2012 Steubenville, Ohio, rape case, allegations of gang-rape at a high school party expose a small town's ugly truths. Star basketballer John Doone's party inspires soccer player Kate and her childhood friend Ben to admit their long-held feelings for each other. The party also-if cheerleader Stacey Stallard is to be believed-saw several prominent members of the basketball team rape Stacey while she was incapacitated. The arrests of Doone and three other boys in the cafeteria spark both a media frenzy and a schoolwide rally to defend the alleged rapists. Ben stands up against the worst of his teammates' behavior at school, but as Kate's romance with him deepens, so does her need to know the truth. Kate, who listens more than she talks, makes an ideal narrator, observing her friends' dismissals of Stacey's story with increasing uncertainty. Even minor characters here are carefully conceived, and every bit of dialogue and social media activity is chillingly note-perfect. Classroom scenes and conversations offer frameworks for understanding what has happened and why, but the touch is so light and the narrative voice so strong that even a two-page passage breaking down the sexism in Grease! avoids seeming didactic. A powerful tale of betrayal and a vital primer on rape culture. (Fiction. 14-18)

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August 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Kate got wasted. Stacey got wasted. Kate left early. Stacey was raped, or so she claims. Kate can't remember much about the party, save from the growing flirtations with her childhood friend Ben. It's hard to focus on anything but their budding romance even when the whole school is sharing pictures and gossiping about Stacey's "behavior" at the party. But Kate is forced to come out of her love bubble once four of her classmates are charged with sexual assault and dissemination of child pornography. The whole town seems to comes to the boys defense-but Kate can't help but begin to push aside the town's shared preconceived notions and look closer. Devastatingly reminiscent of the 2012 Stuebenville High School rape case, Hartzler's first YA novel explores how a small, tight-knit community reacts when student athletes are accused of rape. The author has delivered an important, powerful, and engrossing read that gives readers a lot to consider. The book managed to resist a preachy feel while still asking tough questions about consent, the media, and how society puts victims on trial. Kate serves as a relatable and realistic reader surrogate as her emotions, questions, and conclusions progress throughout the story. VERDICT A gripping narrative that begs to be discussed.-Emily Moore, Camden County Library System, NJ

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 It's a beautiful spring Sunday morning, and Kate Weston has the mother of all hangovers. Piecing together the events of a party so epic it earned its own hashtag, she is almost sure she didn't drive home, and even more sure she almost kissed her childhood friend Ben, now grown into a dreamboat of a basketball player. She gets her friend Rachel to delete the one incriminating photo of her wasted, rehydrates, and heads over to see Ben. Back at school on Monday, however, a gradually darkening mist of rumor begins to swirl. What happened after Kate left the party? Who was there? And is there proof? The attitudes and the reactions of the community in Kate's town mimic the trajectory of many familiar recent news stories: accusations fly, but instead of laying blame on the perpetrators, people turn their ire on the victim. Debut-novelist Hartzler (Rapture Practice, 2013) pulls no punches in his depiction of rape culture. A stirring, important read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)