REVIEW for Backlash

Thank you to the wonderful Nikole at Scholastic Canada for sending me a copy of this book.


TITLE:              Backlash

AUTHOR:         Sarah Darer Littman

GENRE:           YA

RATING:         

In full disclosure mode, I LOVE Sarah Darer and everything she writes.  I have gone on record as saying that Want to Go Private is one of the best books I have ever read.

Backlash once again tackles difficult YA issues - related to technology.  Its always amazing to me when I think back about my youth - we had no technology to worry about, although bullying was certainly an issues.  I guess, though, it wasn't quite as easy to bully when you didn't have the ears and the eyes of the world at your disposal.

This is what Backlash tackles.  Just how one "silly", "impulse" can ruin your life and those around you.  How one click of the button can basically destroy the world of the people around you - its actually pretty scary.

The other thing this book does extremely well is expose bullying and all its dark sides.  The ease in which people (including those who should have known better) want to get into the act of bullying with you, but also the sheer destruction of it and how it haunts you.

The writing is beautiful, direct and from the heart.  Although this book is very difficult to read because, let's face it, everyone has bullied or been bullied at some point, it is also engrossing and thought provoking.

The touching friendship of the younger siblings, while everything is falling apart around them is beautiful and made me smile.  They were often more mature and the voice of reason than anyone around them.

Finally, I devoured this book and it is a must read for both parents and YA - hopefully, it can be seen as a tale of caution.

I can't wait to read Sarah's next book.