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'Breaking Beautiful'

Review by Louella Moreland

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[October 16, 2013]  "Breaking Beautiful," by Jennifer Shaw Wolf, 2012, 354 pages, young adult

Jennifer Shaw's novel "Breaking Beautiful" is hard to put down after reading just a few pages. This high school drama highlights an issue that often goes unnoticed until a tragedy strikes, but it's a common issue in various degrees in many relationships of all ages.

Allie was thrilled to move to Pacific Cliffs as her father neared retirement. She had visited the small coastal town every summer to visit her grandmother. It was where her mother grew up. Finally, after so many moves with the Army, Allie was looking forward to putting down roots and making real friendships. The only thing that mars the move is that her summer friend, Blake, has moved to Reno with his drug-addicted mother and gotten himself sent to "juvie."

When she is singled out by the school's most popular senior and becomes his girlfriend, she has no idea what path her life has taken. Tripp had been dating the most popular girl in school, who immediately makes it impossible for Allie to make any true friends. Therefore, Allie finds Tripp becoming the center of her entire world. When Blake returns to Pacific Cliffs to live with his grandmother again, Tripp will not allow Allie to have anything to do with him. But then again, Tripp calls her twin brother, Andrew, who suffers from cerebral palsy, a freak; buys her a cellphone that he uses to keep track of all her movements; and wants Allie at his beck and call at all hours of the day or night.

Ms. Wolf gives us all of this background material of Allie's last year through flashbacks. Most of the time the incidents are scattered and incomplete because Allie is recovering from the accident that killed Tripp when his truck went off the cliff into the Pacific Ocean. Allie is not sure why she survived. In fact, at the beginning of the story she can remember nothing about the night of the accident. She was found on the side of the road, by the guardrail at the cliff, with two severe head wounds.

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Allie's isn't sure the struggle to bring her memory back is a good thing. The student body of the high school is mourning the loss of a favorite, but all Allie can remember are the bruises and cuts that came when she angered Tripp. She can't tell her mother, as Tripp's father is her employer. Her father has been gone most of the year and is now struggling to start a business. Who else would even begin to believe her?

Most of us would at first shake our heads and wonder why Allie or any girl had taken the abuse for so long. However, it's easy to make that judgment from the outside. Ms. Wolf has done a tremendously thorough job of casting a story where the reader fully understands the difficulty an abused person has in realizing what is happening as the spiral continues downward. She lets us feel the fear of the abused that they are at fault and that without the abuser they are nothing.

While Allie and others in the novel make choices they should not have made, perhaps their mistakes won't be repeated by others in similar situations. I believe this novel should have a place on all young adult bookshelves, where concerned adults can recommend it to girls whom they suspect are abused. It is a great cautionary tale for any young woman who is dating or in any kind of relationship.

"Breaking Beautiful" is a truly satisfying read that will break your heart and give your spirit hope. You can find it in the Youth Services Department of the Lincoln Public Library, 725 Pekin St.

[By LOUELLA MORELAND, youth services librarian, Lincoln Public Library District]

Ms. Lou's blog: lincolnpubliclibraryupdates.blogspot.com

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