Rumble
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- USD 11.99
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- USD 11.99
Publisher Description
Does it get better? The New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Tricks explores the highly charged landscapes of bullying and forgiveness in this “strong and worthy” (Kirkus Reviews) novel.
Matthew Turner knows it doesn’t get better.
His younger brother Luke was bullied mercilessly after one of Matt’s friends outed Luke to the whole school, and when Luke called Matt—on the brink of suicide—Matt was too wrapped up in his new girlfriend to answer the phone. Now Luke is gone, and Matt’s family is falling apart.
No matter what his girlfriend Hayden says about forgiveness, there’s no way Matt’s letting those he blames off the hook—including himself. As Matt spirals further into bitterness, he risks losing Hayden, the love of his life. But when her father begins to pressure the school board into banning books because of their homosexual content, he begins to wonder if he and Hayden ever had anything in common.
With brilliant sensitivity and emotional resonance, bestselling author Ellen Hopkins’s Rumble explores bullying and suicide in a powerful story that examines the value of forgiveness and reconciliation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hopkins again tackles hot-button subjects through free verse, taking on cyberbullying, censorship, the role of religion, and the difficulties of veterans returning from war. At the center of her overstuffed but well-constructed story is smart, opinionated 18-year-old Matt, who is struggling with anger and a disintegrating family following the suicide of his gay younger brother, Luke. Matt leans on his girlfriend, Hayden, for support, while raging against her religion and the evangelical Christians whose bullying he blames for Luke's death. When Hayden's father tries to get the school board to remove copies of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Matt counters that "Maybe if the kids who drove over the brink had read the right books, they would've understood that being gay doesn't make you bad or even different." A violent twist very late in the story leaves Matt with new, life-altering challenges something that he makes peace with rather suddenly, given the circumstances. Still, Hopkins expertly documents Matt's increasing ability to accept and love others in his life, and eventually himself. Ages 14 up.
