Claudia, at 14-16 years old, is younger than the protagonists I'm used to in YA, but her narrative felt younger still. There were parts where I felt like I was inside the head of an 8 year old. It made it difficult to settle into the flow of the book. when Claudia has a pseudo break-down, the school nurse administers a narcotic sedative via a shot (in what universe does this story take place?);

As parent groups target different aspects of public education, the administrator said voices of a few drown out the majority. At first, I honestly thought the conversation was a bit over-reaching. But then a friend referenced the way Hae Min Lee was treated in the Serial podcast, how it focused solely on proving Adnan Syed innocence and not on a beautiful life violently taken too soon. I realized, more often more than not, girls become nothing more props in a story. They’re not the elephant in the room, they’re merely pieces of living room furniture you can easily overlook, subsequently taking away their humanity and detaching us emotionally. Also, we never think about the victim’s family or friends or the way their catastrophic loss plagues them, almost daily. "I realized, more often more than not, girls become nothing more props in a story. They’re not the elephant in the room, they’re merely pieces of living room furniture you can easily overlook..." This is something I wanted to talk about this book is so painful that while reading it my heart felt heavy and weak, it really touched me like some events of abuse were horrendously painful .the recently retired school nurse, who could otherwise help Claudia understand Monday's disappearance, is suddenly incapable of remembering anything because she has advanced Alzheimers; A high school administrator in the district who spoke on the condition of anonymity said he doesn't understand why parent groups are targeting books when "every kid has a cellphone."

Claudia's obviously attentive parents are flabbergasted to discover that their daughter cannot read or write at 14 years old and consequently blame the school (they apparently never examined their daughter's school work or ever had her read anything to them); At first, Bates refused to remove the books. She said four days passed, and she thought the controversy had been resolved.Claudia and Monday were supposed to write letters every week during the summer while Claudia was visiting her grandmother, but Claudia heard zilch. Then Monday never showed up at school and no one seems to be able to answer where she went and HOW CAN A CHILD JUST GO MISSING?!?!?!?! Monday's sister knows what happened to members of her family but fails to report it because she fears the dissolution of that family (a family that is so dark and violent that readers wonder why all of them wouldn't run away at the first opportunity); It’s crucial for authors to not only respect the victims but also respect the families by doing solid research and making their stories appropriately different. Additionally, in all of my school talks and book chats, I make it a point to teach kids the difference between ‘based on’ vs. ‘inspired by’ so that readers are fully aware my books are not the carbon copy of someone’s tragedy.