Rating: 
Summary: Hard Choices
Review: Bette Greene has crafted a book that is more than just the story of how prejudice can ruin lives. It speaks to many people when different levels.It speaks to troubled teens worried about fitting in as well as to GLBTQ people and their tormenters. Carla is forced to balance her beliefs against her feelings for a handsome, popular young man. Deciding that keeping silent is an appropriate compromise, she soon learns the price such compromises can demand. Over the course of several months, she watches as the violence of the attacks against two innocent men increases in intensity. At the same time, she is forced to watch the adults who condone such violence launch an attack against her mother, the town librarian. By the time she decides to speak out, it is too late. Her bid for popularity has prevented her from showing support to her mother and cost one-man his life. Regrettably, some readers have criticized the characters of Stephan and Frank as being unrealistic and stereotypical. Specifically, some people think that GLBTQ men who move to roll areas would never act like the characters of Stephan and Frank. This is unfortunate. The fact is that there are people who act exactly this way and who move to roll towns. A quick reading of "A Rose for Charlie" in "Us and Them" by Jim Carnes should give anyone the evidence they need to verify the truth of the characters in question. The characters of Stephan and Frank were drawn from the story of Charlie Howard and his fate at the hands of ignorance and bigotry.
Rating:
Summary: Hard Choices
Review: Bette Greene has crafted a book that is more than just the story of how prejudice can ruin lives. It speaks to many people when different levels. It speaks to troubled teens worried about fitting in as well as to GLBTQ people and their tormenters. Carla is forced to balance her beliefs against her feelings for a handsome, popular young man. Deciding that keeping silent is an appropriate compromise, she soon learns the price such compromises can demand. Over the course of several months, she watches as the violence of the attacks against two innocent men increases in intensity. At the same time, she is forced to watch the adults who condone such violence launch an attack against her mother, the town librarian. By the time she decides to speak out, it is too late. Her bid for popularity has prevented her from showing support to her mother and cost one-man his life. Regrettably, some readers have criticized the characters of Stephan and Frank as being unrealistic and stereotypical. Specifically, some people think that GLBTQ men who move to roll areas would never act like the characters of Stephan and Frank. This is unfortunate. The fact is that there are people who act exactly this way and who move to roll towns. A quick reading of "A Rose for Charlie" in "Us and Them" by Jim Carnes should give anyone the evidence they need to verify the truth of the characters in question. The characters of Stephan and Frank were drawn from the story of Charlie Howard and his fate at the hands of ignorance and bigotry.
Rating:
Summary: Hatred masked by love? Greene has another winner!
Review: Andy Harris is the ultimate Christian young man. He quotes scripture, attends church religiously, leads Bible study but is that really him. Carla Wayland, his girlfriend, is totally in love with him and doesn't see or ignores his quirks. His ultimate quirk is his hatred of all homosexuals, especially the gay couple - Frank Montgomery and Stephan Jones. What drives him? Does Carla's mother - Judith - the town outcast because she stands up for her beliefs - have anything to do with it? This is a remarkable tale of what hatred does to people - to those who hate and to those who are hated. Greene develops the characters so true to life, you'll feel you are watching a movie. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Drowning of Stephan Jones
Review: Bette Greene's "The Drowning of Stephan Jones" is a well-researched and well-written book about a timely issue. It is a novel based upon a series of real-life events, the perpetrators and victims of which Greene spoke to before writing. The novel explores the hatred of gays often propagated by those who are supposed to be our "moral leaders". Andy and his friends abuse, belittle, and humiliate Stephan Jones and Frank Montgomery throughout the book, and, ultimately, the wind up killing Stephan. There is a valuable lesson to be learned from this work, which will undoubtedly raise numerous questions in the reader's mind. Apparently, Mrs. Greene is willing to answer her readers' questions though, as she has established a website with the intention of informing her readers about her books and life. You can visit it, and email her from bettegreene.com.
Rating: 
Summary: About growing up, life long lessons, and values
Review: Green portrays an excellent example of what teenagers go through during their adolescent years. Carla Wayland watched her friends and boyfriend brutally murder Stephan Jones, a homosexual. When the trial of Stephan Jones comes to town Carla has to deside whether she will choose her friends or the truth. The statement "the truth shall set you free" gives true meaning in this excellent book.
Rating: 
Summary: A banned book in Horry County Schools, Horry County, SC
Review: I have problems with the stereotyping of Christians and gays in this book but I do not think it should have been banned from our county's media centers. It was as of June 12, 2002. Even evangelical and fundamentalist Christians could have learned something from this book: walk the talk!!! You can't love homosexuals and call them names and inflict violence upon them.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting
Review: I read this novel several years ago and often think about it. The story is haunting in how it accurately portrays the nature of prejudice. Hate crimes against gays are common and are currently becoming even more common. Novels like this one might help some young people think about the results of hatred and prejudice. Bette Greene deserves all the praise and awards she has received for her books!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting thoughts about Prejudice.
Review: I really liked the Book The Drowning Of Stephan Jones. The reason why I liked the book is because it gave a lot of detail on how people feel about people who are gay.Today we see that people who will label gays with serotypes and will call people who are gay really bad names. The people who live in big cities today are less discriminative towards the "person" who is gay, but still hostile towards the group which is gay. People in big cities, today don't send prejudice letters to person who is gay, but perform hate crimes. They also don't go around and throw steaming hot pizza in their faces, like Andy did to Stephan in the book. If you live in a small town like, Stephan did in the book or in real life, I would have to say that the treatment of people who are gay is very different. In the book we see that Andy and his group of friends send really perjudice letters to Stephan and Frank. They also call Frank and Stephan really bad names. Today , if you live in a smaller city and people found out that you were gay that they would write bad notes to you. People would also write mean names on your locker at school or they would write bad names on your car or they may try to get you kicked out of the city. In the book we see that the people in the book try to protest against people who are gay, by telling them to leave the town, so that they don't spread their "evil" thoughts.
Rating:
Summary: A really good book
Review: I recommend this book to a young adult or adult because this book gets harsh at times but overall it's a very good book. It keeps you interested and makes you wonder whats going to happen next.
Rating:
Summary: i couldn't put this book down
Review: I think that Bette Greene did an excellent job writing this book. She really captured the way that different people feel and think about homosexuality. I think that she does a great job portraying homophobia as an indecent and inhumane thing. She also does a fantastic job describing the changes that Carla goes through. I think that she must have had a similar experience when she was growing up to have been able to describe these charaters so well. I thought the ending of this book was the only flaw. I felt like there should have been more like she left something out. I felt that Stephan's partner made a lousy attempt at revenging his death.
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