Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Under the surface, identical twins Kaeleigh and Raenne’s life in California’s sleepy wine country is a roiling nightmare. No amount of money, political power, or connections can help them. While their mother campaigns for a seat in Congress, the father is home to ignore Raenne but molest Kaeleigh regularly, which he has been doing for years. The house is a sumptuous hell inhabited by still-living ghosts, all of whom find extreme ways (alcohol and prescription drugs, to name just a couple) to block out the pain.    

The source of some of the trauma is a horrible accident, which happened years ago but still haunts them all. Kaeleigh deals with this and her father’s unsought attentions by being a “good girl” – working at a nursing home and fleeing from her incredibly patient teenage suitor’s embraces. Raenne is the proverbial “bad girl,” chasing street drugs and sex to numb the pain.

Although there are serious problems with this story’s plot, Hopkins’ writing is so hypnotic that it’s easy to withhold disbelief. Even though their situation is so brutally extreme, the girls’ voices – piercing and realistic in their fear of what is and hunger for something else– feel incredibly real.

All of Hopkins' books are extremely popular with struggling readers, especially  girls.

Bibliotherapeutic value: The book underscores the value of connecting with others and sharing secrets in order to heal. Though both girls are fully aware of what they’re doing and (usually) why, nothing can break them out of their cycle until they break their silence.

Hopkins, Ellen. Identical. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books - Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2008. 

ISBN: 978-1-4169-5005-9. $17.99.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

"Alice" is not her real name, but it's the only name she goes by now. She is a husk of a person, a girl who has been living with her abductor, Ray, for five years. Stolen away when she was eleven and on a school field trip, Alice has gotten used to living life as a slave. Only Alice is getting older; it's a fact she can't hide anymore, and Ray doesn't like older girls. What is she willing to do to escape?

A terrifying work of fiction that, unfortunately, mirrors real-life newspaper headlines, Living Dead Girl takes a serious look at what happens to victims of repeated abuse. Again and again, Alice forces us to look at the moments when someone could have noticed something was amiss and done something to help her. What she finds is a world that would rather look away than face the truth dead on.


This was chosen for our school's book club -- and then I chose it for my adult YA book club. It's a great one for all kinds of debate.

Bibliotherapeutic value: While absolutely devastating in its portrayal of a nightmarish situation, Living Dead Girl gets into Alice's head in a way that is hard to forget. Readers will understand that the cycle of violence and victimization -- once begun -- is almost impossible to break. It's a potent reminder that, in the words of Arthur Miller, "attention must be paid."



Scott, Elizabeth.  Living Dead Girl. Simon Pulse, 2008.

ISBN 978-1-4169-6059-1.  $16.99.