Description de l’éditeur
Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault.
At least, that's what everyone seems to think when Sara, along with her best friend and three other classmates, has been criminally charged for the bullying and harassment that led to Emma's shocking suicide.
Now Sara is the one who's ostracized, already guilty according to her peers, the community and the media.
But Sara is sure she hasn't done anything wrong. Emma brought it on herself. Emma stole Sara's boyfriend. Emma stole everyone's boyfriends. Surely Sara was the victim, not Emma.
During the summer before her senior year Sara is forced to reflect on the events that brought her to this moment - and ultimately consider her role in an undeniable tragedy. And she'll have to find a way to move forward, even when it feels like her own life is over.
A story of everyday jealousies and resentments, misunderstandings and desires, Tease is a thought-provoking must-read that will haunt readers long after the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Inspired by a real-life case of bullying and suicide, editor Maciel's debut novel depicts a harsh environment of name-calling, both face-to-face and via social media, and girls policing other girls' behavior. When new student Emma seems to have eyes for Sara's boyfriend, Dylan, Sara and her best friend Brielle label Emma a slut. Maciel isn't telling Emma's story she's telling Sara's, in sections that alternate between the escalating bullying and the aftermath, with Emma dead and Sara stuck in summer school and her lawyer's and therapist's offices. It's hard to be with Sara as she insists that it's Emma's fault, that "No one hung the rope for her," but as Maciel reveals Sara's desperate efforts to hang onto a social viability that's tied to Brielle and Dylan, the pressures of her world become clear. It's to the author's credit that she doesn't make Sara immediately sympathetic, but the end, with Sara moving forward in a way that incorporates what happened rather than denying it, although welcome, feels rushed. Ages 14 up.
