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Jump to navigationJump to searchTease by Amanda Maciel (view source)
Revision as of 14:40, 17 November 2020
, 14:40, 17 November 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox2
|title=Tease
|author=Amanda Maciel
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Teens
|summary=Strong story about bullying and its horrific consequences. Told by a not always reliable narrator, it will challenge readers while drawing them in to into a very recognisable world.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|date=May 2014
|isbn=1444918710
|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>1444918710</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=<amazonus>B00HW2EDCK</amazonus>|videocover=1444918710
}}
Emma Putnam killed herself and it was all Sara's fault. If Sara and her other mean girl friends girlfriends hadn't hounded and bullied Emma to the ends of the world, Emma would still be alive. And so now it's Sara's turn to be ostracised - by her old friends, by the community in which she lives, and even by the media.
But is it all as simple as that? As simple as a mean girl getting her just deserts? We follow Sara in the build-up to the court case Emma's parents have brought against her. It's not an easy read because Sara is rude, uncommunicative, resentful, and above all - NOT SORRY.
I think ''Tease'' is going to polarise readers. And I think that is a good thing. Unreliable narrators are always tricky to read and Sara is particularly tricky. She was part and parcel of some concerted vicious bullying that led to a teenage girl committing suicide. And Sara can't understand why she should be sorry. After all, the dead girl, Emma, stole Sara's boyfriend. She stole other people's boyfriends too. And the only person who put a noose around Emma's neck was Emma herself.
How, many readers will ask, can I read about a person like ''that''?
But here's the horrible truth: while few of us have been a part of bullying so severe that someone has died, equally few of us can claim that we have never spread gossip, been unnecessarily mean about or to another person or failed to stand up and be counted when someone else is being bullied and it doesn't affect us. ''Tease'' holds up a mirror to us all and it asks us all to be brave enough to judge ourselves.
As a mother of teenagers rather than a teenager myself, I found ''Tease'' an impossibly sad read. But this isn't a book for me. It's a provocative topic and I hope the feelings it is sure to provoke will lead its readers into honest discussions and perhaps even the courage to stand aside from the herd if that's the right thing to do.
[[Carnaby by Cate Sampson]] also features an unreliable narrator, as does [[Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas]]. And for another story exploring the important subject of bullying, try [[Don't Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer]]. You might also try [[Butterfly Shell by Maureen White]] and [[Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian]]. We think you should also read [[Stand Up to Bullying With a Pulitzer Prize Winner]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1444918710}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=B00HW2EDCK}}
{{commenthead}}
{{comment
|name= Jim Dean
|verb= said
|comment=Fab review, Jill! I wasn't planning on reading this because I didn't think I could cope with reading about someone who'd done something so terrible, but a friend pressed her copy on me and demanded I read it. It's one of the best of the year so far for me - as you say, it will certainly polarise readers, but I think it's massively powerful and really thought-provoking. I hope it's read by lots of teens, parents and teachers.
}}
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{{comment
|name= The Bookbag
|verb= said
|comment=Thanks, Jim. I just hope readers will follow it to the end.
}}
