The File on Angelyn Stark

October 10, 2011
Fifteen-year-old Angelyn is no stranger to trouble: she and her friends smoke daily in the girls’ bathroom, and she’s caught with her boyfriend in the back of his pickup truck during lunch. She has a painful past, too: when she was 12, Angelyn’s elderly neighbor reported that the girl was being sexually abused by her stepfather; although Angelyn denied it, the accusation strained her family and caused her formerly beloved neighbor to move away. When Angelyn begins a complicated relationship with a teacher struggling with his own family issues, he tells her mother that Angelyn is confused (“Friend. Father. Lover. She’s got the lines blurred”), which makes Angelyn’s mother finally ask her daughter what really happened three years ago. Angelyn is a believably complex character who fights, swears, and acts impulsively, but is still easy to get behind. Atkins (Alt Ed) makes some slightly heavy-handed choices, including Angelyn’s connection with a dog that’s been abandoned and her eventual visit to see her estranged neighbor—but Angelyn’s realistic struggles with her mother add depth to this powerful, mature story. Ages 14–up.

October 15, 2011
A troubled teen tries to tell a truth no one wants to hear in this problem novel told almost exclusively in dialogue. Fifteen-year-old Angelyn Stark seems to relish her position as the head of a pack of bad girls, but her tough exterior covers a terrible secret. The summer she was 12, her stepfather, Danny, sexually molested her. The abuse stopped after a neighbor called police, but when her mom didn't believe her, Angelyn told investigators it never happened. Danny still lives with them, and Angelyn endures her mother's anger over the incident. Angelyn's boyfriend, Steve, keeps pressuring her for sex, but she's only interested in her teacher, Mr. Rossi, the single adult in her life who encourages her. But Mr. Rossi is fighting demons of his own and rightly fears that a relationship with Angelyn will jeopardize his reputation. She will have to save herself. While Angelyn is an intriguing, complicated character, the clipped, occasionally clichéd conversations that make up most of the novel do little to deepen secondary characters' dimensions beyond type. In addition, subplots concerning a new girl and Angelyn's next-door neighbor get lost in the more compelling story lines of Angelyn vs. Mom, Steve and Mr. Rossi. Still, the ample white space created by long stretches of dialogue and the provocative topic make this an ideal selection for reluctant readers. (Fiction. 14-18)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Angelyn thought she had put her past behind her. When she was 12, a neighbor, Nathan, witnessed her stepdad molesting her. He reported it to his grandmother, who attempted to stop the abuse. The family denied it and moved on. Then Jeni Traynor shows up at her high school three years later. She knows Nathan and his grandmother, and Angelyn fears that the truth will come out. Her friends and boyfriend are always pressuring her to make bad choices, but she can't get over her neediness. Mr. Rossi, a teacher, tries to help her make better choices and give her confidence, but it backfires. Angelyn is vulnerable and misinterprets his attention and comments. When he confides in her that his wife has left him, blurring the boundaries even more, Angelyn sees an opportunity to express her interest in him. Unfortunately, Jeni witnesses her kissing Mr. Rossi but fails to see that he is rejecting her advances. Readers will feel the teen's vulnerability and understand her inability to have an appropriate relationship with any of the males in the book. The novel is not only about the sexual abuse, but also about the ease with which a vulnerable teen with a troubled past can be misled. Unfortunately, while it leaves readers hopeful, they will feel unsettled about the adults and the decisions that are made throughout.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2011
Grades 9-12 In a tightly plotted, emotionally authentic narrative, 15-year-old Angelyn forces herself and her mother to come to grips with the psychological trauma encountered when, at age 12, Angelyn was forced to lie about her stepfather's abusive behavior. Angelyn is tough, but her mother is even tougher and more reckless. Angelyn's English teacher demonstrates just how necessary it is to combine resilience with both insight and restraint in order to find the motivation for recovery. Atkins' characters are imbued with realistic flaws: Angelyn is a confused abuse victim who needs constant reassurance; her mother feels the need to get herself a steady job before she can face the damage that has been done to her daughter; her boyfriend is sex hungry but caring; the teacher knows his place at school but must deal with his own emotional crisis at home; and her friends have only paper-thin loyalty. Angelyn's story reveals hard truths about the fallout from molestation and proves that trauma isn't the entirety of a person's complex makeup.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)