One of the truest, most tragic lines in "Rape Girl" says that a rape victim is the only crime victim who has to prove her innocence.

My friend (and Chief Book Maven) Kelly ended her review by saying, "This is not light reading or in any way fun."

Damn skippy.

Teenaged Valerie lives in a small Utah town with her widowed mom and kid sister, Ainsley. Her elder brother Sam is off at college.

One weekend, Val's mom went out of town for a workshop. Sam was unavailable to come down and "babysit" his sist More...

I have to tell you—RAPE GIRL was not an easy read. As I turned the pages, I was alternately horrified, furious, appalled, saddened, dismayed, frustrated, and yes, at the very end, hopeful. As the title suggests, this book is about a girl who was raped, and it doesn’t pull punches. The author doesn’t sensationalize, nor does she sugar coat with fancy prose. Instead, RAPE GIRL is an unflinchingly honest, all-too-possible account of a terrible crime committed against one teen girl, and an unflinchi More...

I've recently had the honor of reading an ARC of Rape Girl (release date Aug 15 2012). Rape Girl inflamed my anger, touched my heart, and gave me hope. Our main character, Valerie, is like so many girls we know - eager to please, willing to break a few house rules to gain popularity, and dying to get some attention from her crush. We see in her the girl who could be inside any of us. Except then she shows us a bit more. It's bad enough that she has to go through the process of pressing charges a More...

This is the second YA book I've read on the topic of rape, but I was pleasantly pleased with how different Rape Girl was in terms of voice, premise, and style of writing. Rape Girl is about a girl who isn't afraid to speak about what happened, but when she does, suffers horrible and unexpected consequences in which she's called a liar because there's no way a smart, popular, handsome, religious young man could ever be capable of committing such a heinous act. Rape Girl is about a girl who openly More...

This book made me incredibly upset.
But it is the same kind of upset I felt when I read Speak, and when I read the article in NPR about the 11,000 rape kits in Detroit that have yet to be processed. I must have cried at least five times during the two straight hours of reading Rape Girl because I was so damn frustrated for Valerie. It is a brave reminder that rape cases wind up with dropped charges every single day, and if I become a high school teacher you can bet your ass it will be on my clas More...

Synopsis:

It is a story of a teenage girl called Valerie who got raped after a party in her own house by a guy she fancied; it is narrated by the victim herself and it spans a period of several months.

What I liked:

The book was well written but firstly and foremostly I appreciated the fact that all everything rang so true - the voice of Valerie, her reactions and the reactions of people around her. I know it because not so long ago I went through a similar situation in my family, which, unable to More...

I read this book in one sitting. I made no notes or highlights whilst reading it, nor did I notice any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes or clunky sentences etc. I did not even realise I had spent the good part of a Saturday afternoon sitting inside reading a book when it was glorious weather outside as I was totally engrossed in Klein’s book from the very start.

Rape and sexual assault are very difficult subjects to write about effectively, and this book not only manages to do this but al More...

Cover Impressions: I will be honest, the cover didn't wow me. It was the title and synopsis that got me interested. Perhaps it looks different on the physical copy, or perhaps there is some symbolism behind the cover image that I missed. Either way - do not judge this one by it's cover!

The Gist: Valerie wanted to throw a fun party and maybe flirt with her crush. She didn't know that within 24 hrs she would be labeled as The Rape Girl and that she would lose her friends, her reputation and her se More...

I liked this book - well, as much as you can like a story about an uncomfortable subject. But I was kind of disappointed that it was kind of flat and that it wasn't as emotionally difficult to read as I was expecting.

I was ready to sympathize with Valerie - maybe even cry - to imagine what she was going through. And I did sympathize with her, but I felt the book lacked insight and depth to what SHE was feeling. I mean I saw how unfair things were after the incident, but it was more about how peo More...

THIS REVIEW ON B'S BOOK BLOG!

"Hey, look. It's that girl. That rape girl, right?"

After Adam's raped Valerie and her mother's told the police, Valerie is labeled the "rape girl" and a liar. Her friends turn their backs on her because they either really don't believe her, or they just want to still be on Adam's side, the popular people side. Valerie is torn. She's the victim, but people treat her as if she's the guilty one. She's separated from class and can't show her face in public, while the r More...

More than a story about rape, this is a story about a teenager's relationships--with her best friend, her siblings, her mother--and how they are tested in a time of personal crisis. Alina Klein does a masterful job of showing us Valerie's struggles when her entire life changes overnight and her only goal is just to be normal again. Klein writes beautifully, and very effectively portrait of a girl teens will identify with and learn something from. I highly recommend RAPE GIRL to teens (both boys More...

After reading this book I realized that I too had very backwards view when it came to women and the “rape issue” You see before when I heard of a young woman at a party getting sloppy drunk and dressed in a short mini dress being raped I usually responded with the age old “What did she expect to happen”. That my friends is the absolute wrong reaction. And I apologize for once being one of those people. You see in our society women are taught to behave and dress in a certain manner that conveys a More...

The 1999 publication of Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, was met with a storm of both controversy from the right, and praise from the left. This was due to both the subject matter and the target audience - a novel about the realities of rape, intended for young adults. Since Speak, writers have produced similar novels: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, Scars by Cheryl Rainfield, and many more. In her 2012 novel, Rape Girl, Alina Klein joins the growing number of writers trying to portray the More...

Rape Girl depicts how a young high school girl encounters rape, copes with the event, and stands back up from where she fell. This novel gives the readers a chance to look at how much effort and courage it took for Valerie to overcome the horrors of that one terrifying day in her house. A high school party turned out to be a life changing event towards Valerie’s reputation in school. From the rape issue, Valerie transforms from a weak girl that hears piercing criticisms and insults, to a stronge More...

Rape Girl as in, "'Hey, look. It's that girl. That rape girl, right?'" is the story of Valerie, sixteen years old, the victim of a rape, not only of her body, but of her good name as well. The author, Alina Klein, is a rape survivor, and she captures the terrible after-effects of a crime that is under-reported, misunderstood, and devastating to the victim and the victim's family. Ms. Klein also gives her readers a window into the flawed process of bringing the perpetrator to justice: reporting t More...

Rape Girl, Alina Klein’s debut, is an insightful novel that follows a 16 year old, Valerie, after she is raped. This isn’t the usual rape story though. The novel offers a deeper look at how complex the situation can be and the complications that follow. Valerie was raped by her crush, Adam. Because she was seen willingly going into the den at her party everyone assumes that she was consenting to having sex with Adam and after regretting it screaming rape. This novel covers the reactions of both More...

In our culture, victims of non-violent rape are automatically assumed to be the guilty party. Too often, we argue that the victim is to blame, they did not take the correct measures to prevent their own rape... It is their own fault.

Rape Girl by Alina Klein works to deconstruct this concept. The main character appears to be a “normal” teenage girl. She is the Everyman figure of high school girlhood. Valerie could be anyone. And that is the point. She is not unpopular. She is not a troublemaker, More...

Rape Girl is a powerful little novel by Alina Klein. The title itself is very powerful, uncomfortable for some, but for me the reason for even picking up the book. What I found inside was a strong story of a young girl who goes through an emotional journey after being raped. Valerie is the main character who was raped by a boy she knew. Through reading the novel, one sees how Valerie deals with the emotions within. She also has to deal with the abandonment of friends, being ostracized in school, More...

Klein, A. (2012). Rape girl. South Hampton, NH: Namelos. 125 pp. ISBN: 978-1-60898-124-3. (Paperback); $9.95.

Your name is Valerie. You have a little sister, Ainsley. You love her and want to protect her, but you do not always want to babysit. You do well in school and take pride in your academic accomplishments. You have a best friend and you have a popular boyfriend. People admire you. This story begins, however, when Valerie is not Valerie—she is the Rape Girl. Valerie’s mother goes away for t More...

The emotion that I felt the most while reading this book was ANGER! Anger at Valerie’s ‘so called’ friends and anger at our fucking legal system! I apologize in advance but this book is going to cause me to rant a little…you’ve been warned!

This is a story about a 16 year old who like many teenagers decides to throw a party when her mom is out of town simply so her crush will come. Like many parties this one got out of hand and there was drinking and way too many people. Throughout the party Val More...

There are two books that come to mind when I'm questioned about the subject of rape in Young Adult fiction. Those books are; Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Just Listen by Sarah Dessen After reading Rape Girl I have 3 books that come to mind.

Klein portrays Valerie's story tenderly but without tiptoeing around the subject, rape isn't something we should be portraying to our teenagers as dirty. It doesn't make you weak or inferior. It's not a subject that should be prettied up in anyway, and Va More...

also posted on http://closingthebookcase.blogspot.com

In all honesty, I didn’t know what to expect when I started the “Rape Girl”. The summary both on NetGalley and Goodreads, apart from the fact that they were different and therefore confusing, didn’t give much away other than the main, pretty obvious by the title, theme of the book which is, well, rape. I would like to point out that I’ve never touched a novel on this subject before. Ever. The way I see it is off limits and very hard to approac More...

I went into this expecting it to be a hard read, but I wasn't expected for absolutely heartbreaking it was. This book tugged at my heart and made me cry, I felt so bad for Valerie and her situation, and I could really feel for her.

So the story is about Valerie, a young girl who gets raped the day after a party. She tells the police and tries to press charges against the guy - except not many people believe her because she willingly went into a room with him the night before. Her life is pretty More...

Alina Klein's Rape Girl reminds me of works by Patricia McCormick, Cheryl Rainfield, Ellen Hopkins, and Laurie Halse Anderson. Like these other authors, Klein doesn't pull punches or shy away from the trauma her protagonist suffers as a result of rape.

The novel immediately begins to deal with Valerie's emotional state by opening with a police interview 4 days after she is raped. Klein then alternates to scenes before and after the rape to let Valerie's story unfold before finally settling into More...

The message behind Rape Girl is one that all women, young and old, need to be reminded of. Because of the author’s own experience, the book accurately describes the thoughts and feelings of a rape victim. I wish that there were books like this available when I was in high school. Rape is not a fun or entertaining topic, but it’s real, it happens, and we need to talk about it.

In Valerie’s case, she wasn’t beaten or threatened; therefore, she feels guilt and shame, and even doubts herself about wh More...

When is someone considered a victim and when is someone considered the consenting party? Valerie is a teenage girl living a normal life until after the party with Adam. Valerie is a victim who does the right thing but ended up being condemned for being truthful.

Rape Girl tackles one of the most talked about issues in our society – when is an act considered rape? For me, rape is not JUST the act of being bounded and tacken without your permission. Rape is not about being taken by a stranger in a More...

To be honest this book was not an easy read. It brought out many different emotions in me. One of the emotions i felt the most was anger, anger for Valerie. I couldn't believe it when her own friends started turning on her along with every one else. they turned her into the attacker not the victim. Unfortunately this is what most likely happens when a girl accuses someone of being a rapist. Valerie went through several states of post-traumatic shock: Disbelief, self-disgust, aggression and guilt More...

Valerie isn't one of the most popular girls but she's not an outcast, either. One weekend when her mom's out of town, she throws a party hoping that her crush will show up. He does. And the next morning when she's alone, he comes back. And he doesn't listen when she says no.

So she goes to the police and tells them everything.

And that's when everything changes. Most of her classmates take Adam's side. They say that she's a slut and a liar. Even her best friend is on Adam's side.

This is a hard boo More...

Review from http://bookdoll.blogspot.com/2012/07/...

When high schooler Valerie threw a party in her own house, the last thing she expected was to get raped, especially not by the boy she was crushing on. But she does, and everything changes after she reports the crime.

Almost everyone at school begins shunning her, including her best friend, and sides with her attacker Adam. Her entire family is starting to act differently around her. Valerie starts meeting with a support group for rape victims a More...