Mike Parker is North Bay Academy's golden boy: a track star, a prize athlete, the guy everyone crushes on. So when his girlfriend shows up at school one day with a black eye and tells the principal that Mike hit her, chaos erupts. Some people still believe Mike's a good guy. Some want him expelled. Some girls at school wonder why anyone would stay with someone who hurt them. Some think she's lying. Some know she's not. Like Amy Reed's The Nowhere Girls (2017), this examination of the violence that's inflicted ten casually d self-inflicted against women is given potency through its narrative structure. For the first several sections of the book, its chorus of female narrators go unnamed, referred to only by the labels that their classmates might use: "The Activist," "The Burn-Out," "The Popular Girl," "The Anxious Girl." While domestic violence is the central issue, girls in the book grapple with self-harm as well e struggles with bulimia, another cuts d with their changing relationships with one another. A rallying cry.

To others at North Bay Academy, California native Maya seems to have everything a girl could want: good grades, popularity, and a handsome track-star boyfriend. That-s until spring of junior year, when Maya arrives at school with a bruised eye, and reports to the principal that her boyfriend, Mike, has been hitting her. Subsequent rumors result in split opinions about Maya: some believe that Mike should be expelled, while others think he might not have been her abuser (-What kind of girl stays after her boyfriend hits her?-). While Maya tries to sort out her conflicting emotions about why she remained with him, her best friend, Juniper, is cutting herself to quell her escalating anxiety and OCD. Alternating first-person voices (-the bulimic,- -the cool girl,- -the girlfriend,- -the popular girl-) express hidden fears about self-image, particularly narratives by Maya and Juniper. In a novel that frankly addresses timely teen issues, Sheinmel (A Danger to Herself and Others) explores female challenges with image and self-identity, as well as the psyche-s responses and defenses when things go horribly awry. Aimed at a mature audience, this hard-hitting novel about social norms and mental health expresses the importance of honesty and self-advocacy. Ages 14-up. Agent: Mollie Glick, Creative Artists Agency. (Feb.)

Gr 9 Up-Mike Parker's girlfriend of six months goes to the principal with a secretMike hit her, causing California's North Bay Academy to take sides on who they believe. Everyone loves golden boy Mike, a junior and track star, but the incident spurs students to plan a rally against domestic violence. Maya didn't tell anyone when the abuse started three months ago, not even her best friend Junie, a lesbian who is in therapy for self-harm. Maya has also kept another painful secretthe fact that she is making herself throw up. While the school administration debates how to handle Maya's accusation against Mike, Maya and Junie attempt to deal with their respective illnesses on their own, but quickly realize that they are stronger together. Though the story takes place over only one week, the pacing is slow near the end, which may cause loss of interest. VERDICT Fans of Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie and Kathleen Glasgow's Girl in Pieces will enjoy this multiple points-of-view novel for the highly relevant subject matter, including domestic violence, self-harm, eating disorders, and mental illness. Recommended for purchase for its diverse characters and timely topics. Laura Jones, Argos Community Schools, IN