Title: Safe
Author: Susan Shaw
Summary: Tracy lost her mom when she was only three years old, but that’s okay: She still feels her presence and remembers her yellow dress and the yellow rose she wore in her hair. But on the last day of seventh grade, the unimaginable happens: Tracy is abducted and brutalized by the older brother of a boy in her class.
Now Tracy feels disconnected from the world, her friends, and worst of all, the memory of her mother. The book doesn’t go into the details of the attack, but the damage done to Tracy’s life is clear: She is afraid to leave the house, or go into her yard without her dad around. She worries that her friends no longer like her, but only hang out with her out of pity. And she can’t stand the idea of talking about what happened with a therapist. The only comfort she finds is at the piano. Will she ever feel safe again?
Who will like this book?: Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s monumental novel Speak.
If you like this, try this: When She Hollers by Cynthia Voight, Target by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian