All the Rage

Starred review from March 2, 2015
As Romy Grey enters her senior year, she learns firsthand that the town of Grebe does not take kindly to girls who accuse the sheriff’s son of rape. Romy’s only escape from the brutal torments she suffers daily at school is her waitressing job, far enough from Grebe that no one there knows what happened to her—including her coworker Leon, whose unassuming romantic interest she hesitantly begins to return. But when Romy attends the town’s infamous senior party and wakes up on the side of the road with the night an awful blank behind her, her life comes crashing down anew: her former best friend Penny has vanished. The book takes a while to gain momentum, but Penny’s disappearance gives direction and purpose to Romy’s harrowing emotional journey as she struggles to reconcile her own fate with Penny’s. The narrative never shies from its charged subject, and Summers (This Is Not a Test) portrays the unforgiving mind-set of Grebe’s citizens with grim realism. Through its resolution is neither tidy nor simple, Romy’s powerful story creates a space for change. Ages 14–up. Agent: Amy Tipton, Signature Literary Agency.

Starred review from February 1, 2015
In a small town, one girl is raped, and another girl disappears.In the aftermath of her rape, Romy Grey lost her only friend and gained a reputation as a liar and a slit-"[b]ecause 'slut' was just too humanizing, I guess." Beyond the poetic, searing recollection of the rape that opens the book, however, this back story is never directly recounted. Instead, readers stumble with Romy through locker-room viciousness, long shifts at the diner, and constant microaggression from sneering teachers and cruel, powerful Sheriff Turner, the father of her rapist. After an alcohol-soaked party, Romy wakes up bewildered by the side of the road with no memory of the night before. The same day, a popular girl goes missing. Around these twin mysteries runs a tight, unrelenting plot that brings into sharp, brutal relief the difference between reviled Romy and a girl who suffers "a fate no one thinks she deserves." Tough, weary, hurt and scared, Romy makes believably flawed choices, sometimes hurting others and herself. The small, close-knit town of Grebe is a seething cauldron of grudges and loyalties, and each character is not only carefully drawn, but deeply rooted in generations of history. Unflinching and powerful. (Fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from May 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Romy Grey lost her friends, including best friend Penny, and all high school social status when she accused the local sheriff's son of rape. But then she and Penny go missing the night of the annual senior party, and Romy is found on the side of a road the next morning with no memory of what happened. She has to try and reconcile life as the ostracized girl who is found when the beloved girl is still lost, while dealing with the lasting trauma of her assault. In a society that too often seeks to place blame on the victim, Summers's book offers a deft and timely examination of the aftermath of rape in a small town where corruption and power trump justice. "You can't deny you were attracted to him," the sheriff says in one of the book's flashbacks, before commenting on the teen's state of inebriation at the time and her clothing ("short skirt, skimpy shirt"). The dynamics between Romy and other characters, such as her supportive mother and new stepfather-figure, and her out-of-town diner coworker and love interest Leon (whom she doesn't tell about the rape), are well written. Romy is complex and likewise developed well as the story progresses; readers will feel for her as she grapples with her most vulnerable moments and see hope in her times of strength. Not all loose ends are tied up by the end, and the book is more powerful for it. VERDICT Readers will be drawn into this moving story set in small-town America. Essential for libraries serving high school students.-Amanda Mastrull, Library Journal

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015
Grades 10-1 When Romy accused the well-regarded sheriff's son of rape, not only did no one believe her but she became the town pariah. Months later, she lives her life like a shadow, melting into the background to avoid scorn and desperately clinging to any shred of control she can muster, while inside she simmers with fury. When she wakes up next to the highway with her clothes undone and no recollection of how she got there, she is terrified to face the same kind of vitriol from her community a second time, so she keeps quiet. When another girl goes missing the same night, however, Romy slowly realizes that she needs to reveal the painful truth. Summers takes victim-shaming to task in this timely story, and the cruelties not only of Romy's classmates but also the adults she should be able to trust come heartbreakingly to the fore. Romy's breathy internal monologue is filled with bitter indignation, and while the narrative style may require some patience, older teens who like gritty realism will find plenty to ponder.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)