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August 30, 2007
HARMLESS by Dana Reinhardt
High School freshmen Annie and Emma have been best friends since they were little. When the new girl at school, Mariah, befriends them, they see it as opportunity to become more popular and less invisible. Before the year is up, Annie and Emma will wish they had never met Mariah.
One night the girls go to a party at Mariah’s boyfriend’s house, but lie to their parents and say they are going to the movies. When their parents show up at the movies looking for them, the girls decide to concoct a story rather than tell the truth and get in trouble. They decide to tell their parents that they were attacked by a man on the way to the movies. They don’t expect their parents to involve the police, but that is exactly what happens. As the girls are questioned by the police and applauded as local heroes for resisting the fictional attacker, they are forced to continue lying until the story is out of control. When an innocent man is arrested, they must decide if they want to live with the guilt of what they’ve done or finally tell the truth.
HARMLESS gives a realistic portrayal of how a simple lie can take on a life of it’s own.
I recommend this book for students in grade 9-12.
Paula Cea
Reference Librarian
Posted by fjacksonem at August 30, 2007 2:07 PM