Brutal by Michael Harmon

I haven't read a good book is SO long. . .and after reading this one, I can still make that statement as a true one. This book (on the Teen Reads list) is awful. It has everything I don't like: foul language, a teenager who is smarter than every adult in her life, and a convenient plot deus ex machina (that's when a plot is concluded in a way this is unpredictable, improbable, and unsatisfying). I don't know what Harmon intended the purpose of this book to be, but I see nothing about the story that could possibly be construed as helpful to any teen who reads it. Bullying (the causes, symptoms, and prevention) and the victims of bullies are topics that deserve better treatment than this.