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Shattering Glass

Shattering Glass

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Shattering Glass
Review: "Shattering Glass" is a powerful examination of what it takes to become popular, and what happens when the power structure of a society/school is dramatically shifted.

The narrator's best friend decides to give the school "loser" a makeover in order for him to become popular and eventually be voted Class Favorite for the seniors. His three pals warm to the task, but the narrator is repelled by the outcast, especially after he senses that the boy is more manipulative and rebellious than he lets on. The boy also has an uncanny ability to ferret out secrets and weaknesses that others would prefer to keep hidden. When he uses this power against this group of friends, tragedy ensures, in a very Y2K way.

Unlike one reviewer, I did not find the profanity gratuitous but used for effect in very specific scenes. However, I did feel the author at times was trying to hard to be colorful, coining the kinds of phrases that are used in movies like "Clueless" but not (often) by real life teens.



Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Total Rip Off
Review: First of all -- it's a total rip off of varios made for TV movies, Dawson's Creek, etc. The characters are totally unbelievable and the dialogue is full of clunky phrases -- the author obviously did not read this aloud. I can't believe an editor let this go to publishing... I was utterly ripped off. Furthermore, there is plenty of gratuitous profanity which adds nothing but makes the book a poor choice for most teens.

Money poorly spent.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: DHS Student, Grade 9
Review: Power hungry Alpha-Male Rob Hynes, along with his crew girl-attracting Bobster, intellectual Young (who narrates the story), and sweet athletic Coop take on the seeming impossible job of turning type A-nerd Simon Glass into class Favorite. Along the way to popularity Simon finds his devious new courage to stand on his own two feet. He snoops his way into Rob's overly private backround to find what will be a deadly secret. When Simon takes over Rob's control of votes for class favorite and confronts the group with Rob's past, it results in a "shattering" conclusion. This is a great book with relatable situations. It is so realistic and well written with words that bring the scene to life, that you feel like you are a spectator watching it all happen. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter are good insight to what happened in the end of the book and keep you guessing right down to the last page.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Suspensful Thriller
Review: Shattering Glass by Gail Giles is a suspenseful thriller about a high school clique that wants to make the class goof into the class favorite. The story is narrated by one of the boys from the clique, straight A student, Young Stewart. Stewart tells of how they transform Simon Glass from class loser to class favorite. Simon gets too caught up in his quest for popularity and is no longer liked by the clique. They take it upon themselves to straighten Glass out. I found this book to be enlightening of how some high school kids can really get caught up in the race for popularity. I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who likes suspenseful books with twisted and disturbing endings.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Glass menagerie
Review: There are plenty of books out there in which a group of high school students end up accidentally, or otherwise, killing either a classmate or a schoolteacher. Usually there's a great amount of build up to the event. Maybe it's a mystery that you reach at the end. Maybe the kids are innocent of the crime and it's all about clearing their names. In the case of "Shattering Glass", however, the protagonist Young Steward does away with any and all misunderstandings right from the start. "Simon Glass was easy to hate. I never knew exactly why, there was too much to pick from. I guess, really, we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him". And we're off!

Four good buddies, Young, Rob, Bob, and Coop are the top of the pecking order at B'Vale High School. They're handsome, popular, and all around respected fellows. Rob is the unquestioned leader of the group, so when he proposes a crazy quest nobody raises any objections. Rob has honed in on one Simon Glass, the resident loser of the school. Glass is fat, uncool, and socially backward. For Rob the ultimate challenge becomes the success of Simon Glass. He becomes obsessed with it, using all his charm and resources to persuade people to help him in his crazy scheme. Ever the follower, Young doesn't question Rob's goals. Not even when he discovers the dark secret hiding in his best friend's past. By the time the book reaching its horrifying conclusion you've already learned what happens to the four friends and the unfortunate Simon Glass.

The book isn't a whodunit. It's a towhatextentdunit. By reading the little quotes that appear at the beginning of each chapter the reader begins to get a sense of what happened the night of Simon's death. The question isn't what happened so much as it is, "Who was involved?". It's more, "To what extent was Young involved?". Giles is the master of the slow reveal. She gives us just enough information throughout the story to be interested. Then she'll toss in the occasional tantalizing detail just to suck us deeper into the story. Best of all, Giles never creates a character without there being some kind of backstory involved. If someone does something cruel or unfeeling, you can probably bet they've their own problems hidden away somewhere. What I liked best of all was the character of Glass himself. Simultaneously a victim and a victimizer, the object of everyone's attention turns out to be far cannier than anyone ever suspected. In a way, I saw this book as a kind of updated "The Chocolate War". In both cases a charming teen at the height of his school's society feels a need to keep himself at the top of the pecking order through the rigid control of others. The only difference is, in "The Chocolate War" the villain decides to destroy a fellow student. In this book, he aims to recreate him. And the results are almost identical.

Giles has debuted with a powerful first novel. The book isn't, for the record, actually as good as "The Chocolate War", but it is the rare young adult novel that makes you think. There's a lot of power behind Giles' words and her characters are a fascinating study. As a former substitute teacher, she's aware of her subject matter and their social constraints. Best of all, the book never falls into that old trap of an adult writing for teens and including lots of "hip" teen slang. The closest this book ever comes to slang is the occasional "Yo!". I can live with that. In the end, "Shattering Glass" deserves its praise. It may not be the nicest book about teen popularity out there, but it's certainly not the cruelest.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shattering Glass That Can't Be Replaced
Review: This book is excellent. It gets you hooked and you literally can't stop. From the first page it tells you that they're going to kill Simon Glass, the despised-nerd of their high school. Popular Rob and his three friends decide to turn him from geek to great and get him to be Class Favorite. At the beginning of every chapter it gives you a peak of after the murder while you read the story preceding it. Young Steward throughout the book is creeped out by Simon as he falls in love, loses love, and realizes he may be being strung along by his "best friend". Only he seems to see Simon's devious side. And when they others do, it's far too late. Read it today, it will keep you on the edge of your seat.


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