All the Rage

LoveReading4Kids Says

One of our Books of the Year 2016 | February 2016 Book of the Month A deeply powerful novel for emotionally mature readers about surviving rape, speaking out and the ways in which women are forced to burden the blame for misogynist brutalities.

With her alcoholic dad out of the picture, Romy lives with her mom and her mom’s boyfriend. To Romy, make-up and the diligence with which she manicures her nails and reapplies her red lipstick is not, as her dad thought, “a shallow girl's sport”. Rather, to Romy, make-up is armour, and worn for good reason. Since the sheriff’s son raped her, Romy’s peers have subjected her to torrents of abuse, accusing her of being an attention-seeking liar. Made to feel like an outcast, Romy’s only refuge is working in an out-of-town diner, where her past is a secret, and where she befriends compassionate Leon.

Romy goes missing on the night of the notorious annual lake party and wakes up on the roadside. When it emerges that another girl, Penny, went missing that same night, people turn on Romy again. They accuse her of diverting police attention from the search for Penny, believing that Romy getting ‘wasted’ and winding up on the roadside was another manifestation of her attention-seeking tendencies. For a time Romy bears the abuse, but knows she has to break her silence about what really happened that night.

This is a smartly written, suitably stark exploration of what it’s like to be a girl in a world in which female voices are silenced, women’s bodies are objectified, and the lives of accused “promising” young men are valued more than those of the women they've assaulted. It’s hugely important that stories like Romy’s are told, and Summers does it with remarkable poise. ~ Joanne Owen

“It is absolutely critical that we stand against rape culture. Girls matter, their stories matter, and All the Rage is my way of letting them know”  Courtney Summers

LoveReading4Kids

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