Vigilante

Gr 9 Up—A brutally honest account of the rape and sexual violence that occur all too frequently in high school and college, and the havoc that such atrocities wreak on the survivors and their loved ones. Hadley's best friend Magda was raped and publicly shamed by the four most popular boys in school at a Halloween party last year. After seeing them walk free and withstanding months of social torment and depression, Magda took her own life, and Hadley endures guilt and feelings of rage at those who assaulted her friend and the system that let them get away with it. She decides to take matters into her own hands—but where does the line between justice and revenge lie, and how much pain and humiliation can she inflict upon the boys without becoming like them herself? The author drops readers into the protagonist's world like it's the deep end of a dark pool; there is no buildup, just immediate slut-shaming and anguish, and the novel becomes bleaker and more disturbing from there. Through the shared experience of isolation, the characters, all of whom have dealt with different kinds of sexual assault, connect and find strength together.