Our book of the week comes from Laurie Halse Anderson, a successful author of YA lit. I've read all of her books now, including Speak, Prom, Fever 1793, Chains and Twisted. She has another book called Wintergirls coming out this month, so stay tuned if she's one of your favorites.
The major way that Twisted differs from her other titles is that it is told from a teen boy's perspective. Tyler, the main character, was a dork in high school until he is caught defacing the school with misspelled graffiti. Once he has a parole officer and is forced to complete community service, his status changes. Suddenly, the girl of his dreams no longer ignores him. This is a turn for the better on one hand, because he really wants to get with her, but it's also a negative turn because when something horrible happens to her he is the first one accused.
What I truly enjoyed about this book was getting to know Tyler. He was a pretty funny character and seemed to speak and think like an actual teen. The plot was not the most exciting, but I definitely wanted to find out what would happen to him in the end. I found myself rooting for him, nervous that he would not find a way out of his troubles when times got too tough for him. This is not a long book, but it's not short either. It's not super thrilling, but seems realistic. I think you'll like Tyler once you meet him. He's a good guy.
