Going into her freshman year, things are good for Stevie. She and her best friend (forever) Lottie are unsure about entering high school but they have always done everything together. Yes, they are different: Lottie loves losing herself in a book while Stevie loves 80s and 90s movies (she regularly posts videos to her YouTube channel about them). Still, Stevie has spent so much time in Lottie's home that she feels like she has a second set of parents.
But things change. Lottie and Stevie start hanging out with the popular crowd and Lottie seems to be spending more time with them than Stevie. Add Stevie's mom dating some new guy and Lottie's parents going through epic changes (no spoilers here) and Stevie feels the very foundation of her life shift.
When her friendship with Lottie fractures and the horrific bullying starts, Stevie finds Dee. Dee is confident in ways Stevie could never be. Dee is also relentless in pointing out BS in the school. She pushes Stevie to bring justice to the victims by getting revenge on the perpetrators, the ones who think they are above it all. At first, the revenge is sweet, almost harmless pranks. When do the pranks get out of control? When do they cross a line into harassment? When do the bullied become the bullies?
Stevie's story is painful and dark. She feels like her life is out of control. Whether it is a bad as she thinks, it doesn't matter because that's the way it feels to her. In the story, revenge is satisfying for a while. It is good to see the nasty people get taken down, but ultimately it is a tragic story. I like the unorthodox direction of the story, and I hope you do, too.
For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.
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