Touch by Francine Prose

Maisie has told the story about what happened in the back of the bus so many times, she's not even sure what the truth is anymore. She knows that there is going to be a hearing, and she knows that she will have to accuse her former best friends, now known as "the defendants."

All that's clear is that Maisie is now alone, friendless. She hates her step-mother, her real mother had abandoned her and remarried a hostile jerk, and she seems to be living at the therapist's office.

A sad, affecting tale about the awkward passage from childhood to pubescence -- about what happens when budding sexuality complicates everything.

I've read Francine Prose's adult novels about similar topics (she seems particularly interested in the morally murky waters of sexual harassment and molestation). My friend, who writes about YA novels brought this one over to my house and the jacket flap drew me in.

Bibliotherapeutic value: A book about how "the truth" can be slippery when put under a microscope by peers, parents and other authority figures. An interesting look at victimization.

Prose, Francine. Touch. New York: HarperTeen, 2009.

ISBN: 0061375179. $16.99.

Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess

Meredith sits on the curb outside her condo, waiting for her father to get home. This isn’t just any reunion -- her father has been in jail for three years for sexually molesting her. To make matters more twisted and painful, Meredith’s mother can’t wait for him to get there so that they can rekindle their marriage, even though, aside from molesting her daughter, he also molested several young boys on his middle school baseball team.

 

Though the premise is almost ridiculously unbelievable, it’s a testament to the fierce beauty of Laura Wiess’ writing – her impeccable attention to the smallest detail -- that she pulls off this tale, making this nightmare scenario feel downright terrifying. 

Meredith’s story is one of ultimate betrayal. Her father is completely unrepentant and ready to take up where he left off with his daughter. The mother is both sinister and clueless, and horrifying in her own right. This is a powerful book about fear, evil, and redemption.

Bibliotherapeutic value: Even though Meredith has some attentive adults around her, she finds that only she can help herself. A poignant story about moving out of victimhood.

  

Wiess, Laura Battyanyi. Such a Pretty Girl.  New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2007.

ISBN: 14165-21836. $7.99.