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 Review by
Louella Moreland
A fact of life among young teens is that at one time or another they will
go somewhere or do something of which they know their parents would
disapprove. Even the "good" kids -- top students, faith-raised,
independent-thinking, morally strong teens -- are faced with immense
pressure sometime during their formative years that will test their strength
of personal conviction. Some may be tempted by curiosity; some may buckle
under peer pressure; some may be defiant of parental control; some may
simply make an unwise choice.
In her new novel, "Harmless," Dana Reinhardt understands the world of
teenagers. Without standing as judge and jury, without making excuses, she
weaves her story of three young teen girls caught in a web of lies. The
first lie seems harmless enough. They agree to tell the story to keep their
parents from finding out they were at a party with drinking and boys from a
neighboring high school. The lie works. So when they decide to try the same
ploy again and almost get caught in it, the lie becomes bigger, more
involved. They believe that this lie will again get them off the hook and
soon be put in the past. This time, though, it starts a chain of events that
involves their families, their school, their community and their very lives.
With the story told from the perspective of each of the three girls --
Emma, Anna and Mariah -- the reader is able to see the motivations,
background and stimulus behind each girl participating in this life-changing
event. Each girl is quite different. Attending a private school in a
university town and coming from families that have good jobs, they do not at
first strike the reader as the type of girls to get into any major trouble.
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At first none of the girls think this harmless lie will cause a
problem. When it does seem to snowball into a bigger mess, each girl
responds differently, sometimes not in a way that might be expected.
Nor do two of the girls understand the underlying problem that
finally brings about their downfall.
This is really a cautionary tale, but told in a manner that does
not preach or sound like it comes from an adult perspective. These
characters are ones you could meet in any junior or senior high
school in our country or most foreign ones. Their families are like
many of our neighbors. Their family stories are ones we have heard
many times. In fact, in many ways, it would not be much of a stretch
of the imagination to believe a story like this happening in our own
city.
As a parent who has worked with young adults most of my life, I
would recommend this story be read by parents of young teens as
well. Discuss it together. Why? As adults we come to see the world
in a different way than our children do. Through our experiences, we
could have seen the results of this "harmless" little untruth
becoming a major problem. What we as adults need to be reminded of
is that our children do not have our experiences, and it is our role
to provide a model to help them make choices, realizing they may not
always do as we wish.
Come to the library and see what other great young adult
literature we have to offer! You can find it in the annex at 725
Pekin St.
[Text from file received from
Louella Moreland,
Lincoln Public Library District] |
