In this debut novel, a high school girl faces the pain, shame, and uncertainty that come with sexual abuse. With the passing of her mother, Kate Franklins life unravels at the seams as she loses the only emotional mooring in her family. Her dad shuts down completely, and her brother enlists in the army. Things start looking better when her dad is hired to coach at Beacon Prep, home of one of the best basketball teams in the state. In a blog of prose and poetry, Kate chronicles her new world?dating a basketball player, being caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, and discovering the perks the inner circle enjoys. Then Kates fragile life shatters once again when one of her boyfriends teammates assaults her at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dads vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The once welcoming community has betrayed Kate, her family is disintegrating, and shes on her own to grapple with whether to stay quiet or speak out and expose a towns hero and destroy her fathers career.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book is aimed at children at US 6th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 400 pages in this book. This book was published in 2013 by Medallion Press .

Rachele Alpine is a high school English teacher and blogs at www. freckle-head. blogspot. com. She lives in Mentor, Ohio.