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Overview
They promised Meredith nine years of safety, but only gave her three.
Her father was supposed to be locked up until Meredith turned eighteen. She thought she had time to grow up, get out, and start a new life. But Meredith is only fifteen, and today her father is coming home from prison.
Today her time has run out.
Synopsis
They promised Meredith nine years of safety, but only gave her three.
Her father was supposed to be locked up until Meredith turned eighteen. She thought she had time to grow up, get out, and start a new life. But Meredith is only fifteen, and today her father is coming home from prison.
Today her time has run out.
VOYA
Meredith has run out of time. Her father was supposed to be away for nine years, but he is out in three and on his way home. Her mother is in denial, still furious with her daughter for reporting the rape that caused his conviction. This terrifying, powerful novel of child abuse and molestation is told by fifteen-year-old Meredith as it is happening. Her voice is whip-smart, self-aware, and full of dry humor even as her choppy sentences communicate her terror. From the moment she sees him again, she knows that her father will try again. Meredith is not alone. Her grandmother lives across town, and both the cop who arrested her father and her boyfriend, Andy, live in her condo complex. When he was only seven, Andy was also abused by Meredith's father. Now he is nineteen, a paraplegic, and living with his mother who, disguised, waits to take revenge. But Meredith comes to believe that she must save herself. Her father must be arrested again before he molests other children. She is "the sacrificial lamb.o This novel is perfectly paced, the momentum never slowing as it races toward the inevitable showdown. Mature teens who enjoy realistic fiction with an edge will devour it. There are problems: some preachy moments, a miraculous ending tying up every loose end, and two over-the-top mothers. It contains a rape scene (told in flashback) and mild sex between Andy and Meredith, but neither is overly graphic. Meredith's feelings as she sits across from her father at the breakfast table are disturbing.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Such a Pretty Girl is deep and ravishing, dark and true. In the character of Meredith, Laura Wiess has created a girl to walk alongside Harper Lee's Scout and J. D. Salinger's Phoebe. Read this novel, and you will be changed forever."— Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author
"Such a Pretty Girl hooked me on page one and Laura Wiess's masterful prose kept me turning the pages. This is the first book in a very long time that made me say, 'Wish I'd written this.'"
— Ellen Hopkins, bestselling author of Crank
"Beautifully written and painfully real. Laura Wiess has crafted a gripping story that is heart-rending — and important, with a capital 'I'."
— Barbara Delinsky, New York Times bestselling author of Flirting with Pete
KLIATT -
Meredith thought she had nine years to feel safe. But the courts let her father, a convicted pedophile, out in just three. And now she has to find a way to survive all over again. She tries to make herself ugly and dirty so that her father will not find her sexually attractive. She tries to convince her mother that he is a danger. Neither happens. Her mother is in self-centered denial, and Meredith can feel her father's desire. Without being overly graphic, Wiess brings readers into Meredith's world of pain, fear, and confusion in haunting ways. Expertly drawn, Meredith is complex and raw and her reality evokes near-physical reactions as each page is turned. And when Meredith works with a cop to devise a plan to eliminate her father as a threat to other child victims, readers will be awed by her courage and will. From the poignant cover of a wilting rose, at once beautiful and sad, to the very end, Such a Pretty Girl is striking in its portrayal of one girl's fight against becoming another's physical and emotional prey.VOYA -
Meredith has run out of time. Her father was supposed to be away for nine years, but he is out in three and on his way home. Her mother is in denial, still furious with her daughter for reporting the rape that caused his conviction. This terrifying, powerful novel of child abuse and molestation is told by fifteen-year-old Meredith as it is happening. Her voice is whip-smart, self-aware, and full of dry humor even as her choppy sentences communicate her terror. From the moment she sees him again, she knows that her father will try again. Meredith is not alone. Her grandmother lives across town, and both the cop who arrested her father and her boyfriend, Andy, live in her condo complex. When he was only seven, Andy was also abused by Meredith's father. Now he is nineteen, a paraplegic, and living with his mother who, disguised, waits to take revenge. But Meredith comes to believe that she must save herself. Her father must be arrested again before he molests other children. She is "the sacrificial lamb.o This novel is perfectly paced, the momentum never slowing as it races toward the inevitable showdown. Mature teens who enjoy realistic fiction with an edge will devour it. There are problems: some preachy moments, a miraculous ending tying up every loose end, and two over-the-top mothers. It contains a rape scene (told in flashback) and mild sex between Andy and Meredith, but neither is overly graphic. Meredith's feelings as she sits across from her father at the breakfast table are disturbing.KLIATT -
Three years ago, when she was 12, Meredith's father raped her. She went to the hospital; he went to prison. Now he's getting out on an early parole, and Meredith's life is falling apart. Her mother refuses to acknowledge what happened; all she cares about is getting her husband back. Meredith's boyfriend Andy—a boy molested by her father—takes off for Iowa in search of a miracle cure for his paralysis caused by a night of drunk driving. And her father won't leave her alone. This is a rare book: a "problem novel" in which the story is in service of the characters, not the other way around. Meredith, Andy, Andy's deeply religious mother, the retired policeman who befriends Meredith, and Meredith's tough grandmother are all flawed, engaging characters who are strong and weak in their own, sometimes unexpected, ways. Even Meredith's parents, the clear villains of the story, manage to seem like real people rather than two-dimensional monsters. Meredith is realistically terrified of her father and bears the expected emotional scars, but still finds the strength to help the policeman build a case to put her father away for good. This tale strikes just the right balance between hope and despair, and Meredith's will to survive and ability to take action in the face of her terror are an inspiration.School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up Laura Weiss grips readers from the start in this extraordinary novel (Pocket Books, pap. 2007) about a teen's struggles with incest. Fifteen-year-old Meredith's sexually abusive father was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released after only three years. Her selfish and superficial mother enables her returning husband to live just a short distance away, and Meredith is terrified. Meredith's father is a child molester who abused her as well as several young boys. He fails to register with the police once released, as required by Megan's Law, and resumes his lecherous hunt for intimacy with his daughter. Weiss recounts the girl's determination to outmaneuver this monster while maintaining her self-respect. The author pulls off a remarkable balancing act in describing tortuous angst in a refined text. Laced with cynicism and bitter humor, Angela Rogers's narration maintains high tension throughout; however, there is some idiosyncratic phrasing in a few instances. This compelling novel provides a suspenseful, fast-paced, honest look at sexually victimized youth.-Robin Levin, Fort Washakie School/Community Library, WY