Fall 16 Kids’ Indie Next Pick “Padian’s latest boasts a swift, excellently crafted plot, exceedingly readable prose, and painfully relatable characters. It is especially surprising to find an affectionate involvement as believable as Haley and Richard’s in the middle of a story centering on a rape investigation. Particularly relevant for high school seniors and college freshmen” —Booklist, starred review“Powerful, suspenseful and illuminating . . . With intriguing, flawed characters and a gripping storyline, Wrecked by Maria Padian offers readers a view of a college sexual assault case that is as engrossing as it is important . . . valuable, riveting.” —Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review “Rape on college campuses is a massive issue right now (hopefully not forever), and Maria Padian’s new novel Wrecked delves into not just the emotional and physical toll it takes on survivors but the bureaucracy and red tape that exists within the structures that are supposed to be stopping it.”—Bustle “Padian excels at showing the messy aftermath of a sexual crime in a college community . . . This is a novel about truth and the damage done—to a community, to a person, and to relationships—when hard truths are hidden . . . Wrecked should be assigned to all incoming freshman, especially fraternity members. It’s not enough to have students sit through lectures about sexual assault and rape. They need to learn about it through a story where they see humans instead of statistics, and, as in Wrecked, the very real ripple effects that such a crime can have on an entire campus.” —Portland (ME) Press Herald “Outstanding, powerful, and important . . . This is, hands down, one of the best sexual assault reads in YA, and it’s a book that high schoolers of all genders should read.” —Kelly Jensen, Book Riot “In the face of recent college rape trials, readers will be rapt and emotionally spent by the end. An important, devastating new perspective on an all-too-timely subject.” —Kirkus Reviews “Revelatory, deeply real, and urgently important.” —Nova Ren Suma, author of The Walls Around Us “This is an important and, unfortunately, timely novel . . . This isn’t just a book that all young men and women should read; it’s gripping and human enough that many will want to. Shelve and display alongside Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Courtney Summers’s All the Rage.” —School Library Journal “Padian avoids oversimplifying or stereotyping as she explores one such assault and its aftermath, telling a story that combines the most painful, everyday, and emotionally intimate aspects of college life . . . Padian’s expansion of the story to include friends and family lends it visceral realism, allowing readers to imagine themselves in a similar scenario without asking them to envision themselves as either victim or perpetrator.” —Publishers Weekly “Padian’s boldest effort yet . . . a powerful, dramatic story with strong messages.”—Morning Sentinel (Waterville, ME) “A fast-paced read . . . With down-to-earth characters and a relatable setting, Wrecked hits close to home for many high school and college students.” —The Bowdoin Orient (Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME) “Padian’s characters come beautifully to life in this enthralling and powerful novel. They allow us to step into their shoes and wonder how we would act, what side we would choose and if right and wrong can be defined as sharply as the world wants them to be.” —Middlebury Campus (Middlebury College, VT) “A refreshing look on a subject many of us are unfortunately all too aware of. It keeps the reader enthralled and curious until the very end . . . This book is an easy read for any college student looking for an enlightening, emotional and relatable story.”—The Royal Purple (University of Wisconsin—Whitewater) “Chapter after mesmerizing/engaging/compelling chapter. . . I absolutely could not put down this timely, poignant and thought-provoking novel. Wrecked should be required reading for every rising college freshman.” —Pinestraw Magazine (Southern Pines, NC) “Terrific . . . It is a nuanced account with superbly realized, realistic characters, and a compelling story-line. This is a book made to be discussed . . . a great book on an important issue.” —Daily Bulldog (Farmington, ME)
08/01/2016
Gr 10 Up—A sobering, compelling, and realistic view of campus sexual assault. Haley is a college freshman whose life revolves around soccer. She's just been sidelined by a concussion when her roommate Jenny is raped at a party off campus. Jenny asks Haley to be her adviser in the campus investigation, giving her a front-row seat to the mounting pain and trauma Jenny goes through. Told from two points of view—those of Haley and Richard, a housemate of the accused—this work submerges readers in the aftermath of a campus sexual assault. Without feeling heavy-handed, the narrative lays out how the school administration handles the investigation and the various ways the students react. This is an important and, unfortunately, timely novel. In the midst of the details of the crime and its effects, readers are also given a sweet and genuine love story between Haley and Richard. This isn't just a book that all young men and women should read; it's gripping and human enough that many will want to. VERDICT Shelve and display alongside Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and Courtney Summers's All the Rage.—Emily Moore, Camden County Library System, NJ
2016-07-02
A group of white college students becomes entangled in the investigation of an on-campus rape. Haley Dougherty, a freshman at MacCallum College, suffers her third concussion during a soccer match. Light and sound overwhelm her. So when her mousy roommate, Jenny James, returns to their dorm upset about a party at Conundrum, the notorious party house, she’s intrigued but too out of it to take much notice. Elsewhere on campus, Jordan Bockus brags to his housemate Richard Brandt that he got some action from a freshman at the same party. That night at Conundrum soon takes over the lives of nearly everyone involved when Jenny files a formal complaint stating that Jordan raped her. Reluctantly, both Haley and Richard are recruited as advisers to Jenny and Jordan, respectively, during the investigation, putting them on opposite sides just as a flirtation arises between them. And on top of everything else, Jenny’s fuzzy memories and Jordan’s sense of entitlement make for painfully realistic barriers to the truth. Haley’s and Richard’s alternating perspectives, related in a tightly focused present tense, create a web of good and bad intentions as the investigation lurches on. All characters are realistically flawed and human as they struggle to do what’s right. In the face of recent college rape trials, readers will be rapt and emotionally spent by the end. An important, devastating new perspective on an all-too-timely subject. (Fiction. 14-18)
