There was a man. He had a knife. He attacked us down by the river.
It was just a harmless little lie.
Anna, Emma and Mariah co... read full description
It was just a harmless little lie.
Anna, Emma and Mariah co... read full description
reviews
Jul 25, 2011
karen
rated it: 
this is a story that details the consequences of lies. when three girls get exposed in a teensy white lie, they decide to tell a much bigger lie because "go big or go home", right?? and "going home" will get them grounded.
"going big" will have much more serious consequences, but youth is shortsighted. and dumb. so very dumb.
for a while, the lying thing works out quite well - they even end up looking pretty heroic and get sympathy shopping sprees, More...
"going big" will have much more serious consequences, but youth is shortsighted. and dumb. so very dumb.
for a while, the lying thing works out quite well - they even end up looking pretty heroic and get sympathy shopping sprees, More...
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Jul 14, 2011
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Dec 22, 2011
Jennifer
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Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com
Everyone's told lies. Most lies aren't even that bad. They don't hurt anyone...they're just harmless.
One night, Mariah, Anna, and Emma are off at an older boy's house, instead of at the movies like they said they would be. But when their parents show up at the movies and can't find them anywhere, they are caught in their lie. They're okay, but they don't want to be grounded for life. Telling a little lie would be a lot easier More...
Everyone's told lies. Most lies aren't even that bad. They don't hurt anyone...they're just harmless.
One night, Mariah, Anna, and Emma are off at an older boy's house, instead of at the movies like they said they would be. But when their parents show up at the movies and can't find them anywhere, they are caught in their lie. They're okay, but they don't want to be grounded for life. Telling a little lie would be a lot easier More...
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Oct 30, 2007
Emily
rated it: 
Mariah, Anna, and Emma all come together during their freshman year at ODS. Mariah has an older boyfriend at public school who constantly is giving her hickeys. When the girls become friends, Mariah introduced Anna and Emma to his friends. There was alcohol at the party and Emma ended up having sex with one of the boys she just met. This fundamentally alters Emma. She knows it was not rape, but she also knows she wasn’t ready. She silently struggles with this issue.
Meanwhile, the other gi More...
Meanwhile, the other gi More...
Dec 16, 2009
Erin
rated it:
Emma, Anna and Mariah are somewhat unlikely friends: Mariah is the girl everybody would like to be, Anna is frumpy and unkempt, and Emma has always hung around with Anna in the background. When the three decide to go to Mariah's boyfriend's house for a party, they have a good time hanging out with a few of the local high school guys. A good enough time that they decide to do it again the following weekend.
However, this time the parents begin to ask questions. Panicked, the three g More...
However, this time the parents begin to ask questions. Panicked, the three g More...
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Nov 06, 2007
Jenny
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A great story about how small lies can turn big. Well, their lie wasn't so small, but the consequences were much more far reaching than the girls ever imagined. The voices of the characters, 3 freshman girls, are distinct and lend believability to an otherwise after-school-special kind of story. Explores the usual theme suspects; popularity, family relationships, individuality, etc but the real heavy hitters are teen sexuality, violence and self acceptance. Yeah yeah, I know. What's new? But Har
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Nov 24, 2010
Shaya
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Aug 11, 2009
Diane
rated it:
To avoid getting in trouble at home, three, ninth grade girls: Mariah, Anna and Emma, make up a story about a strange man trying to attack Emma in the park on a Friday night. The truth of the matter was that these three freshmen girls were at an underage drinking party, not where they told their parents they would be.
When the parents of the girls get the police involved, one lie becomes so much more. The teachers and community are outraged, that a ninth grade girl was almost raped, a More...
When the parents of the girls get the police involved, one lie becomes so much more. The teachers and community are outraged, that a ninth grade girl was almost raped, a More...
Dec 09, 2011
Taylor
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Feb 12, 2011
Anna
rated it:
This isn't a "feel good" kind of book. For most of the story, I felt anger towards all three characters (who are alternating narrators). I thought they were selfish and naive and I kept wishing they would tell the truth and they kept living this huge, horrible lie. Yet, that was the point of the story -- this enormous lie they told -- and despite how angry I felt towards the characters, I still managed to really like this book.
I think it's amazing when authors are able t More...
I think it's amazing when authors are able t More...
Nov 16, 2011
Angel
rated it:
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt creates a strong bonding between three girls. These girls are Mariah,Anna, and Emma. Emma and Anna starts out as very close friends and as Mariah came into town, those three has been keeping up with their lies. They have a party one night and as Mariah already has a boyfriend, Emma decides to follow her steps. The parents of these girls ends up being worried as the rest of them got to cover up what happened to leave.The police ends up finding out the truth.
This bo More...
This bo More...
Dec 02, 2011
Erin
rated it:
Harmless
by Dana Reinhardt
When Anna asks her mother if it is okay to tell a lie, she doesn’t expect the answer she gets.
“Sometimes,” her mother says.
But somehow, Anna knows that the lie she and her two best friends tell isn’t one of those “okay” lies.
This story of a lie gone crazy is more than just a cautionary tale. Three different girls, all with three different motivations, are trying to find themselves amidst the same challenges that every teen faces. Emma is More...
by Dana Reinhardt
When Anna asks her mother if it is okay to tell a lie, she doesn’t expect the answer she gets.
“Sometimes,” her mother says.
But somehow, Anna knows that the lie she and her two best friends tell isn’t one of those “okay” lies.
This story of a lie gone crazy is more than just a cautionary tale. Three different girls, all with three different motivations, are trying to find themselves amidst the same challenges that every teen faces. Emma is More...
Apr 17, 2011
Samantha
rated it:
I really enjoyed this audiobook. The book is told from the point of view of the three main character: Anna, Emma and Mariah and each part is narrated by a different person. Alternating chapters from the point of view of each character, the three best friends find themselves enveloped in a lie they have created to escape punishment from their parents after lying about their whereabouts on a Friday evening. After telling their parents they are going to a movie, but actually going to Mariah's bo
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Nov 08, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
The book Harmless by Dana Reinhardt is an amazing page-turner that I would recommend to anybody. Also I really noticed the pain in the main characters families. The book begins with one of the main characters, Anna, saying “if I only told the truth that night. (1)” This quote right off the bat makes me want to know what happened on “that night” and fully captures my interest making me want to figure out what this lie is. Also this book takes a drastic turn towards the middle. The main characters
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Jul 27, 2010
Zoë
rated it:
"This is what I know about the truth: the farther you get away from it, or it gets from you, the harder it is to tell."
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt is the story of three friends, Emma, Anna and Mariah who after getting caught in a lie, they didn't really attend the movie they told their parents they were, make up a bigger lie to cover it up. There was a man. He had a knife. He attacked us down by the river. So is planted the seed of a crime which never really occurred, a More...
Harmless by Dana Reinhardt is the story of three friends, Emma, Anna and Mariah who after getting caught in a lie, they didn't really attend the movie they told their parents they were, make up a bigger lie to cover it up. There was a man. He had a knife. He attacked us down by the river. So is planted the seed of a crime which never really occurred, a More...
Jan 18, 2010
Noa
rated it:
Harmless is a story about three girls named Anna, Mariah and Emma. Anna and Emma are best friends since they were little, but Mariah (the girl that everybody would like to be) become their friend and they start hanging out a lot together. Mariah's older boyfriend (who is in senior year) invites them to a party at his house for the weekend. They lie to their parents in order to go to the party. Encouraged by their successful lie, they do it again the next week by telling their parents that the
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Nov 15, 2011
Mire
rated it:
Ever since the 3rd grade, Emma and Anna have been best friends and still strong. But till this new girl, Mariah, comes along. Mariah, a speedy wild beautiful girl, enters this town with a reputation already! As the girls grow closer and become more like sisters, they all let each other in on their secrets and whole life. Having a college year boyfriend, Mariah believes she has to impress and stay with him. The girls plan to have a sleepover with Mariah's older boyfriend and his friends at their
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Feb 18, 2010
Kristen "Kirby"
rated it: 
Didn't enjoy it.
I felt the major conflict, 3 girls lying about being nearly raped as a cover for being out partying, was unrealistic. I would hope that 15 year old girls wouldn't believe such a story is taken lightly and craft that sort of lie. Sure, they'd fib, say they met up with someone and got a ride someplace, but claim to be attacked? Doubt it. (Being a teen myself, I wouldn't concoct such a story.)
The characters were highly unlikeable, by not only sticking to thei More...
I felt the major conflict, 3 girls lying about being nearly raped as a cover for being out partying, was unrealistic. I would hope that 15 year old girls wouldn't believe such a story is taken lightly and craft that sort of lie. Sure, they'd fib, say they met up with someone and got a ride someplace, but claim to be attacked? Doubt it. (Being a teen myself, I wouldn't concoct such a story.)
The characters were highly unlikeable, by not only sticking to thei More...
Oct 21, 2009
Harmless was a very intriguing novel. The characters were all different and each had their own story to tell. They go through their normal lives for years being nobodys and outcasts. When they finally meet eachother, their lives change forever. One lie, one night, and everything is over for them. Sure they got away with it those first couple of months but in the end someone slips and the truth is out. Things are diffent,they dont talk to eachother, the town hates them, but they are on the road t
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Feb 03, 2012
Karen
rated it:
This is a fascinating, quite gripping story about the consequences of being dishonest. Ninth-graders Emma, Anna and Mariah tell their parents they will be at the movies, but instead they attend an unsupervised party at a senior boy's house. When their parents discover they were not actually at the movie, they create a story to explain their whereabouts which involves fighting off a man who tried to assault them near the town's river. This "harmless" lie soon escalates in ways the th
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Mar 11, 2011
Laura
rated it:
This novel unfolds pretty much exactly the way you think it will. Three friends make up a lie to avoid getting in trouble. While they avoid their problems for the night, their story attracts attention and spins out of control. There are a few rich relationships in the story: Emma learns more about her father and Mariah develops an interesting relationship with Emma's older brother. For me, these relationships are the best part of the book. The legal parts are weaker and not handled as well.
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Sep 28, 2007
Lisa
rated it:
Three girls sneak off to a party. To avoid getting in trouble with their parents, they make up a story: they were attacked, and one of them was almost raped. I really felt the girls' unease and dread as the lie grew beyond their control. Lying is bad, kids.
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Nov 20, 2008
Christina
rated it:
We've all told lies, at one time or another. But sometimes, a "harmless" lie can have far-reaching consequences, as high school freshmen Anna, Emma, and Mariah painfully learn in this story. They don't want their parents to find out they were at a party with senior boys from another school, so they make up a story about being attacked by a stranger on the riverbank and barely getting away safely. They're hoping that will be the end of it, because they can't identify this mysterious vag
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Jan 30, 2012
Imani
rated it:
Once you lies, it never stops. How far will you go to keep this lie? Emma and Anna, girls innocent as can be. But until Mariah comes along, things start to change. Peer-pressure leads these girls to lie to their parents and do things they wouldn't usually do.
They tell lies that seem harmless, but it hurts them the most. They try to protect their self. But instead of telling the truth they make up a lie that seems harmless and perfect at first. But the pressure of the lie gets to the More...
They tell lies that seem harmless, but it hurts them the most. They try to protect their self. But instead of telling the truth they make up a lie that seems harmless and perfect at first. But the pressure of the lie gets to the More...
Dec 13, 2007
Nono
rated it:
I really liked this one. A story about how a small lie can have a life of it's own. Also about good kids making bad choices. The characters were likeable and totally believable.
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Oct 27, 2009
Diane
rated it:
When three friends don't want to admit to their parents that they were at a party and not where they were supposed to be, they concoct what they believe is a harmless lie. They pretend that they were attacked by an unknown assailant at the river. They never expect their parents to involve the police. Soon, the lie becomes huge as people throughout the community call in tips and search for their would be attacker. Though it's a contemporary novel, it could be set anywhere in America within the l
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Dec 20, 2011
Kimberly
rated it:
This is a story of three girls who came up with a lie to cover up the truth. They told their parents that they were attacked by an unknown man by the river, when in truth they had been at a party. I don't want to go into to much detail about the story its self (id hate to ruin it for anyone). but I gave this book 3 stars because for me their was always something missing and I really had to force myself to finish the last 40 or so pages. I was into the book right off the bat, mostly because I wan
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Apr 05, 2009
Kathi
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Jan 24, 2012
Carly
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I was hoping to like this book a lot more than I did. I love Dana Reinhardt, but this novel didn't seem to have her usual touch. Although the characters were very realistic ninth grade girls, I had a hard time relating to them. Perhaps this book may resonate with younger readers (early high school). It certainly shows the potential of lies to quickly become wildfire. Don't let this book turn you off from Dana Reinhardt, though. Pick up "Things a Brother Knows," "The Summer I Learn
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Jan 10, 2009
Kevin
rated it:
This book was not very intresting. The characters,except Emma, did not act the way a normal character would act in the delima they were in. I loathed that Mirah repeted some ones name continously several times in the beginning of a few chapters. Anna seemed like she had a great story before the incident occured but then her story crummbled in the middle and the end. Only Emma's story seemed to be real she actted the way someone would act if they were stuck in choosing to lie or telling the tru
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