The Mockingbirds

This review is going to be difficult to write, in much the same way that The Mockingbirds was a difficult book to read and, I’m sure, to write. In young adult fiction, not enough attention is given to rape; what rape is, how it affects the victim, how it is handled by authorities. Daisy Whitney’s treatment and approach to such a stick subject thrilled me massively. This author did virtually everything right in this book. I was impressed.

A lot of the time, date-rape can fall into a sort of gray area, as it isn’t necessarily “violent” and date rapists don’t always fit into the “alleyway thug” persona; but it’s still wrong. So when Alex Patrick is date-raped at the beginning of her junior year, she runs into a problem. In a “he said, she said” situation, should she go to the police? The school administration? Maybe she should just keep quiet and try to move on with her life.

Or, there’s the Mockingbirds, an organization that makes your typical high school student council look just plain bad. The Mockingbirds are one-part secret society, one-part student government, and one-part rebellion. It’s in interesting mix of ideas and indentities, and it’s definitely unique. Daisy Whitney gets full points for creativity here.

The author should also get recognition for her main character: Alex. With Alex, things walked right on the fine line between proactive character and damsel in distress. It’s not something that often works. Alex was strong, she made her own choices and stuck with them; but she was also a rape victim, and in some cases, she needed some serious support. Whitney, I think, did an excellent job with Alex’s character.

I also found the “trial” itself to be fascinating. Basically, the students held a little courtroom scene in the laundromat, complete with “counsel is badgering the witness” jargon and everything. Now, maybe it’s a bit difficult to imagine 15-year-old kids completely mastering the ins and outs of the American legal system, but that scene was certainly interesting.

Where The Mockingbirds and I disagreed was, well, about the Mockingbirds and how they functioned. In the back of the book, Whitney explains that, in college, she was the victim of date-rape. At the time, her university had no method of dealing with date-rape, so the admin attempted to hush things up. That wasn’t good enough for Whitney, so she and other date-rape victims launched an awareness campaign that, eventually, reaped results.

But in The Mockingbirds, Alex and the student body handle things on their own, rather than try to get adult help. Now, I very strongly believe that rapists and sex offenders belong in jail; so when Alex’s rapists was “punished” by stepping down from the water polo team, I was a bit miffed. I think he got off easy, which wouldn’t have happened if the students hadn’t decided to take the law into their own hands.

I mean, if Daisy Whitney worked hard to get recognition for her own case of date-rape from school admin and law enforcement, why, in her book, did the same not happen? I mean, yes, in a sense, the Mockingbirds took care of Alex’s rapist and he was “tried” for his crimes and “punished”, but it was all very anticlimactic and, as I said, not at all what the rapist truly deserved.

Because, “boo hoo, I stepped down from the water polo team” wasn’t enough for my intolerant little soul.

I had heard nothing but good about this book and decided that I needed to give it a go. I recommend that you stop whatever you're doing right now, and find a way to get your hands on this book if you haven't already. Buy it at a book store, borrow it from a friend or library, download it on your nook or kindle. Just do it. Right now.

Plot: There are so many overdone plots in today's selection of young adult books. I have never read or heard of any similar to this, so it was a breath of fresh air. (I'm just full of product slogans today. First Nike, now Febreze!) It makes a lot of sense with how society is, blaming the girl for the way she dressed or that she didn't fight back enough, that Alex didn't feel comfortable reporting it to the police.

There were a few slow spots and not many twists and turns, but the plot was pretty straight forward.

I was disappointed by what happened to Carter at the end, but the ending over all was pretty good.

Characters: Alex wasn't my favorite main character of all time, but she was still a pretty good one.

Carter. He's a jerk. Not only does he rape her (twice), but he tells everyone that she was begging for it. UGH, the words I want to use to describe him.

I fell completely and utterly in love with Martin on page 291. When asked how he spent his weekend, he responded:
"Wrote half of my paper on barn owls, watched hockey. My Buffalo Sabres lost. I know that breaks your heart too."
Where can I sign up to marry this wonderful boy whose heart breaks when his hockey team loses? Overall though, he's a great character. I loved him before I got to this page, if that says anything.

There's a bit of tension between her two best friends, which draws a bit of attention throughout the book, but never really plays out to much.

Overall: I love when authors are able to use real life experiences in their writing. Ned Vizzini spent time in a mental hospital, so he wrote It's Kind of a Funny Story about a kid in a mental hospital. Daisy Whitney was raped and went through a similar process that Alex did to find justice. I mean, it's a horrible thing, but I think it gives more insight to the situations going on in the book when the author has been through the things going on in the book.

I cannot stress enough how much you should read this book ASAP. I will warn you that there is the occasional strong language and a few graphic scenes as she recalls what happened the night she was raped.

I just really loved this book, in case you haven't picked up on that yet.

A brilliant read. Daisy Whitney is a Rockstar, and I can't wait to read her next book, already in the process of publication.