Rating: 
Summary: Phenomenal Book
Review: Anna Goldsmith is 16 years old. She plays the violin in the school orchestra. She's a skilled tennis player, good at hockey, and speaks French beautifully. And she has just attempted to commit suicide. Slowly, the events leading up to Anna's decision to end her life unfold, alternating from the first-person view of Melanie, her best and only friend, and the third-person view of Frances Goldsmith, her mother. What made Anna hate herself? Can she survive?... Drowning Anna made me cry. Not only is the reader extremely in tune with each character's feelings, but the plot could be the life story of any junior high or high school girl. Any girl who has been teased, bullied, or otherwise trapped in a net of demeaning lies can relate to Anna easily. From the very first page the reader is pulled into the story and the lives of those involved. Anna's struggles become your own. Mayfield notes at the end of her book "...I hope [this book] gives girls like Anna a voice- and some sense of being understood." In my opinion, she has exceeded her goal.
Rating: 
Summary: My Thoughts on "Drowning Anna"
Review: Anna, a teenager moves to a new location, new school and tries to make new friends. One of them is Hayley who comes on strong at first. Then slowly, Hayley starts turning on Anna and starts making her life a living nightmare. Through all of this, Melanie, another friend hovers between the two never knowing how to deal with the situation.
I absolutely loved reading this young-adult book. While I felt, at times, frustrated, mad, sad and scared, this story, told from the point of view of Melanie was so solid and well told.
While we can feel Anna's increasing depression at the way Hayley is treating her, I found it interesting to view the character of Hayley - clearly some kind of psycho in the making. It is scary to think that these things (bullying) actually happen to our kids.
While I thought the author did a good job of fleshing out Anna's parents, they really only appear towards the end of the book, clueless as to why Anna would try to commit suicide. This also scares me - that parents seem not to know what is happening with their kids anymore.
Melanie is probably the least fleshed out for me. She comes across as weak and extremely vulnerable - which apparently she is.
This book is a gem. I wish they had these types of books when I was growing up!
Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best YA books I've read in a long time!
Review: Even though I'm closing in on 30, I thought this was a great book. The story is told from the perspective of Anna's journal, her parents and friends. The plot examines the nasty world of girl cliques and female bullying. So often we think of boys being the only bullies. Girls are bullies too--just with their words and manipulative ideas. I've recommended this book to my middle school students. It's worth the time for both girls AND boys to read--and their parents, too. Don't bother checking out from the library--buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Drowning Anna Drowned Me!!...
Review: I absolutly loved this book. It was so good I couldn't put it down! I didn't stop reading until I finished it. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It made me think differently about my life and how subtle harrasment can be till it pushes someone over the edge. You have got to read this book it is one of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book for high schoolers to read
Review: I loved this book it was sooo real sooo gripping. I was blown away by a person who would do that but the book just pulled you in. I am not a real reader but when i saw this i had to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Drowning Anna
Review: i really, really liked this book. It moved me and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read something that has depression, harrassment and it all happens to teenage girls. In the book, Hayley Parkin befriends Anna Goldsmith. But Hayley Parkin isnt exactly the greatest friend. She starts harrassing Anna pretty badly, and Anna gets so depressed with her life that she starts cutting herself. (More stuff happens to Anna other than just Hayley, too.) she soon does something to her body that ends her in the hospital. i so totally loved this book itz great!!
Rating:
Summary: Drowning Anna
Review: Sticks and stones will break my bones but... Anna Goldsmith knows the rest. And she knows it's a lie.
It started with Hayley Parkin, who befriended Anna when Anna moved to Melanie's school. Everyone loved Hayley but they were also afraid of her. Hayley was the sort who would be your friend one minute and make fun of your clothes the next. Of course no one told Anna that. So when her best friend suddenly starts ignoring her, spreading rumors about her and turning their classmates against her, Anna can't figure out where she went wrong. She tries to appease Hayley, but nothing seems to work. The only one who's skeptical of Hayley's actions is Melanie, who's been burned before by Hayley's slick form of cruelty. Melanie is caught in a bad place: she wants to be liked, which means staying on Hayley's good side, but she also knows exactly what Hayley does to people. No one has all the answers, until Anna attempts something drastic. In a series of letters and memories, we see Anna's true self: strong and resilient on the outside but a total wreck inside.
Think you know your friends? Think again. You know Anna, Melanie and Hayley, and you hate what they do. The author never lets you forget how real the characters are. Despite this, much of the book is melodramatic, emotionally flat and unfulfilling. The reader sees too much pain, too many malicious actions and soon becomes desensitized to it. It's tearjerker television converted to book format. A better picture of strength through cruelty is Laurie Halse Anderson's brilliant SPEAK.
--- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft
Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Review: the author really put her feelings into this book. it was about a girl name anna.shes a typical girl who had just moved to a town.she starts befriending other girls like hayley.but then hayley bullys her as it seems.anna is a violinist, hockey player and a good french speaker. she is a perfect student .this book really made me almost cry.it was so sad about a life of a girl.this book really tells a penatrates a vision of emotions like sympathy and hatred.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly Amazing!
Review: This book is truly amazing! I adore books that are written by English authors and this certainly is one of those books. I'd hate to spoil it for you, so take my advice and just READ IT! I'll give you a hint though, start reading this in the afternoon. I stayed up past midnight reading this since I just couldn't put it down!
Rating:
Summary: moving but depressing
Review: this book was pretty good becauseit made me feel a lot different about harassment and it really moved me. i only gave it four stars tho because it was a bit disturbing and depressing.
the story is about this girl named anna. she was new in her school and she had no friends. then this girl named hailey offers to show her around, soon they become best friends. they do everything together. life seems grea for anna,
then one day hailey drops her. she stops talking to anna for some reason. hopefully, anna thinks it is jst a phase and she waits. but it doesnt get better. hailey becomes nasty. playing rude tricks on poor anna, anna doesnt know what to do.
the harassment becomes worse, even violent. and anna is left to one last solution, an over dose. her mother finds her in the bathroom with 3 notes and her journal.while anna is at the hospital, her mother and father read her journal. in there the story of anna comes out.
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