Hate List

Title: Hate List : A Novel 
Author: Jennifer Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-04144-7
Pages: 408

Why I choose this particular book: Along with an English teacher at the local high school, I help run a teen book club at my library. I'd read this book before and thought it would be a great choice for the club. October is National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month and this book is a great way to start a conversation. I requested this through my library's catalog and received it through inter-library loan.

Hate List is a hard read but not because of the writing, rather the subject matter is difficult to get through. The book picks up about six months after a shooting at Garvin High School. Valerie (Val) is heading back to school after her boyfriend, Nick, shot and killed several students and one teacher as well as wounding more students before shooting himself in the head. Val, in her attempt to stop Nick, was also wounded which incidentally (purposefully?) caused her to save the life of 'Miss Perfect' Jessica. Though Val's been cleared by the police for her actions leading up to the shooting Val, and most of the people in her life, still blame her for having been the mastermind behind the Hate List - a list of students, teachers, situations, actions, or whatever Val and Nick decided they hated. Val used the List as a coping device to deal with the problems she had at home and the bullies she faced at school and never dreamed that Nick would take it to such an extreme level.
So the book opens with Val attempting to pick up the pieces of her life, to deal with the physical and emotional pain following the shooting, to come to terms with not having answers from Nick or even having him around anymore, and to the shattered remains of her parents' relationship as well as facing the judgement of the school staff, parents, and her peers. Not light material at all.

As someone who was bullied throughout my school years I can see how Val could come up with the Hate List. After fighting back against my bullies and not ever being helped by teachers I eventually gave up, withdrew into the group of friends I did have, and tried my best to sail under the radar. Being able to focus your emotions by making a list makes sense to me - you can get out your anger on paper and cope. I can also see how people would misunderstand the list, especially in a post-Columbine world, as well as in the book because Nick uses it as sort of a check list during the shooting.

Val has help picking up the pieces of her life. She has a fantastic therapist who helps her see her own value, a guidance counselor who never stops talking about college, a kooky art teacher (not at the school) who gives Val a judgement-free place to express herself, and she is befriended by the once-hated Miss Perfect, Jessica, who in convinced Val saved her life on purpose. Each of these people help Val heal in their own way and made me think about the people I had in my life who helped me deal. I was blessed to have several teachers take an interest in me and to push me to achieve more. One teacher in particular went out of his way to show me how far I could go and I credit him with making high school a time for me to plan for a future. Midway through high school I made friends with one of the popular girls over a shared experience and her crowd of friends eventually backed off of me because she told them to stop. That's not to say my parents didn't love and support me but they each had a lot on their plates and, though I was given love and attention, their attention was always partially consumed by something or someone else.

A series of news articles were published in the local paper, the Garvin County Sun-Tribune, about the shooting and aftermath at Garvin High with which Val disagrees. She eventually confronts the reporter, Angela Dash, about the articles because they highlight how well the students of Garvin have dealt with the shooting and how they've come to forgive the perpetrator and that the climate of the school is now one of acceptance - all claims Val knows to be not altogether true. She wants Angela to write the truth, that bullying still exists and that forgiveness is a long way off. Angela refuses which leads Val to the story's climax - her way of shining the truth on the situation and coming to terms with the past. The end of the book has made me tear up both times I've read it. I can't imagine having the strength to pull through the way Val did.

I feel that Hate List is a great way to start a conversation about bullying with teens. The extreme actions of Nick highlight the dangers of pushing someone too far. To bully someone for so long and to create a situation where they could potentially harm themselves or others is not a way of handling interpersonal conflict. Victims of bullying are able to see how Val handles herself and how she takes advantage of the positive outlets she's given. The example of Jessica, who steps outside the safe zone of her own friends and who comes to hang out with Val, is one that shows teens that it's alright to reach out to those who are different. Parents are given an insight into the world of teens (a world which comes across as very genuine in the book), a world that has changed since they were young.

I can't wait to hear the book club discussion of this book and will be sure to post an update. 

Similar Reads:

Th1rteen r3asons why : a novel by Jay Asher

Story of a Girl: a novel by Sara Zarr

Links to More Information:

Jennifer Brown 
Hate List 
Stopbullying.gov
 
Discussion:

Were you a bully/bullied in school? A bit of both? Did you have someone in your teen life who you consider to be a catalyst who helped you get where you are today? How important do you feel it is to talk about bullying with teens? Do you think books are a way of opening hard discussions with teens?