Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Fiona Flamingo

Annabel Greene used to be the girl who had everything. Just like her two older sisters, Annabel is a gorgeous girl who models for local commercials and print advertisements, and she has the clothes to match. She and her best friend Sophie are invited to all the parties. But then, at a party on the last day of school, Sophie sees (or thinks she sees) Annabel messing around with Sophie's boyfriend. Suddenly, Annabel is the girl who has nothing --- no friends, no reputation. She doesn't even have her sisters to rely on; Kirsten is off in New York City, while Whitney, who suffers from an eating disorder, has grown sullen and shut out her entire family.

After a difficult summer, Annabel starts the new school year alone. During her lonely lunch hours, she becomes acquainted with Owen Armstrong, a loner who listens constantly to his MP3 player. Kicked out of school the previous year for getting into fights, Owen is back from his anger management classes with a new dedication to honesty. Accustomed to holding back her true feelings instead of risking hurting herself or others, Annabel is at first taken aback when Owen points out the ways she uses language to evade or avoid expressing her true feelings. As Owen pushes Annabel outside her comfort zone, she slowly begins to change, to discover her authentic identity, to maybe gain the courage to confront what really happened that awful night at the party.