The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

As I write this, the news is filled with stories of prominent, powerful men being exposed as sexual harassers. For all the progress women have made, many men still treat women as objects, conquests and prizes. It feels as if we are currently having a shift in attitudes. Hopefully, this story can  help.

Last year, Lucy was raped at a party by some members of the football team, but no one would believe her. The law looked the other way. The boys are still free and continue to harass other girls. Lucy was persecuted so much that her family left town.

Grace has just moved to the same town and now lives in Lucy's old house. Her family move to Oregon from Kentucky when her mom was deemed too progressive to be the minister of their church. Grace finds Lucy's pleas for help scratched into the wood work in her bedroom and wonders what happened.

Grace finds Rosina and Erin at her new school sitting all be themselves at lunch and joins them. She asks them about Lucy. Erin doesn't want talk about it, and Rosina is tired of hearing about it. Besides, they both have their own issues.

Rosina spends all of her 'free' time working in her family's restaurant and babysitting the many young children of her family members. Her mom is constantly critical of her no matter what she does. And she is a lesbian in a school that is not so accepting of such things.

Erin is autistic. She is obsessed with undersea life and Star Trek: the Next Generation. They allow her to escape from the things in life that make her anxious. For all her mom has read about autism, she still does not seem to understand what Erin really needs sometimes.

Together, the girls decide (with some reluctance) to push back against the 'boys will be boys' attitude of the school and the town. The invite other girls to a meeting to talk about Lucy and their own experiences. The gathering leads to the Nowhere Girls, a group that includes members of every clique. The group decides action is needed to stop girls from being harassed. Taking a stand is a risk and often scary, but they know they are doing the right thing.

I hope this book empowers young women and men and helps educate them in the way we all should behave. That showing respect is something we all deserve. That no one is entitled to make others uncomfortable. And that physical interaction and sexual intimacy is about consent from both people involved.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.