Abandoned by Booklikes

So I hands down loved this book from beginning to end. The subject matter is hard to get through though, but I thought the way the book was structured with the reveals coming was very well done.

The main character is Melinda Sordino. Prior to her freshman year in high school all we know is that Melinda had a great group of friends and she felt like she belonged. All of that changes in an instant at an end of the summer year party where she calls the cops. Overnight she becomes a social pariah and finds herself paralyzed in school and at home.

I loved Melinda. She actually felt like a real teenager to me throughout the course of this book. Her voice at times is lonely, sarcastic, funny, sad, and angry. I thought Ms. Anderson did a great job of the slow reveal of what happened to Melinda. I also loved how Melinda sees herself and others around her. She at times appears so much older than her age and apparently is a better read of others around her than she was prior to school starting.

Some of the other characters in this book honestly reminded me of some of my friends from high school. I think we have all known a Heather in our lives right? Desperately wants to fit in, tends to not do anything to rock the boat. I felt sad that is the only friend that Melinda had for almost her entire freshman year. I did love the character of David Petrakis and it gives me hope that eventually that Melinda and he will end up being great friends.

I do kind of want to give an F to Melinda's self involved parents. I would have tons of questions if my daughter who went around with an entourage until fairly recently has taken to not speaking and/or hiding in her room and seems to have a problem with biting her lips/nails to the point where scabs are all over. I think that Halse wrote them this way in order to showcase how sometimes parents can be blind to what is going on with their kids. Maybe because of the fact that I actually mentored pre-teens and teens up until about 8 years ago, I was taught to look for certain behavior and what it could mean. This is another reason why I gave the guidance counselor and principal a F as well. And heck let's throw one out there for the character of Mr. Freeman (Melinda's art teacher) who I think was probably the only adult that got that something had happened to Melinda or was going on with her that he could have shared with other school officials.

I loved the writing of the book and got a kick out of how Ms. Anderson broke it up into semesters like high school and also showing Melinda's falling grades (another big sign that everyone ignored) which coincided with her feeling lost and alone. The flow really worked with the book though it was not written in a structure that I would usually seek out.

I thought the setting of Syracuse, New York was actually not one that I have read about much in other books. Syracuse felt flat and lifeless and I am sure that was written that way to tie in more into Melinda's moods and thoughts.

The ending leaves so many questions and all I can hope is that Melinda keeps "speak"ing.