Harmless

Reinhardt, Dana. Harmless. Wendy Lamb Books: 2008. ISBN: 9780553494976.

Summary:
Anna, Emma and Mariah are freshman at the local private school, ODS. Anna is an only child, and kind of a loner. She is not popular and has been best friends with Emma since 3rd grade. Emma is the sister of one of the most popular seniors at school, Silas. Mariah is new this year and has a bit of a reputation, she is dating a senior, DJ from another school. The girls become friends and with Mariah's urging go to an all night party at DJ's house. To accomplish this the girls must lie to their parents. The party is not what they expected and has life changing results for one of them. But, because they feel pressure to enjoy partying and boys, the girls tell another lie and attend another party. This time, their parents find out that they are not where they said they would be and to avoid punishment the girls concoct a story that grows like Pinocchio's nose and has far reaching effects.

Evaluation:
This story is a great example of how one event can have a domino effect through many lives. It's just one lie. Can one lie hurt? The book does explore the idea of lies that help and save someone's feelings. Written in first person with chapters that alternate by each girl, first Anna, Emma, then Mariah. The reader learns events from a couple of perspectives and this adds to the tension in the plot. This is a morality tale, not just about what is the truth, but underage drinking, rape and coming of age.

Reader's Annotation:
It's just a small white lie, it won't hurt anyone...

Bibliotherapeutic Uses:
Girls who are raped or have sex when they are drunk will find this book healing. Just because you don't say "no", doesn't mean consent.

Genre:
Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age

Why I Included This Book:
I recently found this author and was interested in her other works.