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Shattering Glass

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 2,238 ratings · 333 reviews

"Simon Glass was easy to hate....I guess, really we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him." Fat, clumsy Simon Glass is a nerd, a loser who occupies the lowest rung on the high school social ladder. Everyone picks on him -- until Rob Haynes shows up. Rob, a transfer student with charisma to spare, immediately becomes the...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published September 1st 2003 by Simon Pulse (first published March 1st 2002)

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Dec 15, 2011 Thomasehs rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read the book Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. This was an awesome book because it really related to me. It was right around my age group and some of the problems they have, boys have my age too. Shattering Glass was the best book i have ever read for many reasons. I'm not much of a reader which was why I pick the shortest book. It was only 215 pages and I really enjoyed every part of it. The book is very suspenseful because the climax of the story doesn't happen until the end of the novel. Thi...more I read the book Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. This was an awesome book because it really related to me. It was right around my age group and some of the problems they have, boys have my age too. Shattering Glass was the best book i have ever read for many reasons. I'm not much of a reader which was why I pick the shortest book. It was only 215 pages and I really enjoyed every part of it. The book is very suspenseful because the climax of the story doesn't happen until the end of the novel. This keeps the reader on their toes until the end. I couldn't wait to start reading it again to see if anything would happen. The book was very well written. the quotes at the beginning of the chapter were awesome. It lets you get a peek of what will happen in the end. This was my favorite part of the book.
Shattering Glass was written in first person. Young Steward, the narrator, was kinda like me, he was athletic, he had good grades, tough parents, and was a follower instead of a leader. He was perfect for the role as a narrator because he kept a lot inside. the reader got to see how he felt about certain things. I really took great advice from the things that happen to Young. I now realize even more how being a follower can be good or bad. Young Hadn't been told to do anything bad yet, so being a follower was perfect until he was told to break up with Ronna. Then he realized how doing what he was told to do wasn't always a good thing. I am now writing my own destiny and being a leader. The book Shattering Glass had many ups and downs. It was about a chubby, nerdy kid named Simon Glass who was bullied. Then a group of popular boys had enough of people picking on him. They decided to be his friend and transform him into being the most popular kid in school. They did this until he started to get cocky. The cockiness ends up not being a good idea for Glass in the end. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless it's a high school boy. It has a lot to do with our everyday lives and what things go on in our heads. Women wouldn't really like this type of book because it is told from the viewpoint of a high school boy. This book is also perfect for someone like me because it is a short read. This book was so good. I would read it again if i had the time. I hope the next person that reads this book enjoys it as much as i did. It is a very suspenseful book, will keep you wanting to read and never put the book down(less)

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Apr 19, 2013 Camron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Right at first glance, Shattering Glass was already an interesting book, as on the front cover there is a picture of a guy and shattered glass around it. This book is a jack in a box; you never know when the jack is going to jump out at you. This novel has so many surprising factors. The book also started with a hook, which grabbed my attention right away and I wanted to know what happened. “Simon Glass was easy to hate. I never knew why there was too much to pick from. I guess, really, we each...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Deborah Takahashi rated it 4 of 5 stars

t's senior year and Rob, the most popular guy in school, decides that he wants to leave his legacy by transforming the school geek into Mr. Popular. Meet Simon Glass. Not only is he a brain, but he takes the term "geek: to whole new level, which makes him the ideal candidate for Rob's "Cinderella" project. With a makeover, lesson in the art of being "Cool," and an attitude change, Simon not only leave his reputation as the King of Geeks in the dust, but he actually manages to achieve the same ra...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Kitty rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Shattering Glass" is like a bittersweet tiered cake. Much of what you see is simple and elegant, but that's just the icing. As you eat away the pretty, creme flowers, bite into the soft, spongey inside, and take out each layer one by one, you begin to discover first hand the bitterness and revolting bits hidden carefully and strategically inside. Simultaneously, you find the cake disgusting and find yourself unable to stop eating. Something just keeps telling you to keep going until it's too la...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Jess rated it 5 of 5 stars

“Simon Glass was easy to hate…I guess, really we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him.” This is the first quote read from the book Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. After I had read this quote, I was no longer reading for fun; It became my objective to find out what went on. The intensity given off from the words in this novel had me at the edge of my seat, and I was thoroughly disappointed when it ended.
The setting of this book takes place i...more “Simon Glass was easy to hate…I guess, really we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him.” This is the first quote read from the book Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. After I had read this quote, I was no longer reading for fun; It became my objective to find out what went on. The intensity given off from the words in this novel had me at the edge of my seat, and I was thoroughly disappointed when it ended.
The setting of this book takes place in B’Vale, a high school in Texas. Everybody at school makes fun of the ‘school loser’ Simon Glass. He’s chubby, nerdy, funny looking, and nobody likes him. The popular kids would throw his books on the floor and publicly humiliate him in front of the entire school. It would’ve continued forever, until the new top dog of high school, Rob Haynes, got an idea. He wanted to make him the most popular guy in school. All his friends, including the main character Young Steward, were shocked by this idea, but Robs influence on others made it nearly impossible to refuse.
So all the jock friends went along with it, and sure enough they all grew to like him. They took him to the mall to buy new clothes, worked out with him to make him lose weight, and helped him get his license. All these were ideas from Rob, he became obsessed with wanting Simon to be the popular kid in school. In the process, he made the ex-popular kid named Lance in to what Simon used to be. Pretty soon the entire school was against him and stood up for Simon whenever Lance would pick on him, he would always call him derogatory terms and in the past everybody laughed, but now they turn on him instead.
I would classify this novel as a thriller/mystery. It definitely kept me wanting to read more as the storyline deepened, and I felt like I could relate to it in certain ways since the setting was in high school and all the characters were high schoolers. Throughout the book, whenever a new chapter begins, you’re given quotes from the kids in the school at that time. Some are from just random kids in the school body; others are from some of the main characters. As you progress towards the end of the novel, they start to become more intense and thought provocative. They began to get more in detail as to what officially happens at the end, giving clues and hints trying to help you piece it together. I wish I would’ve known how significant those quotes were when I started reading, because I didn’t pay much attention to them at first and I actually had to go back and re-read those when I finished.
Overall, I would definitely rank this towards the top of my favorite books ever read. I would love to see this book made in to a movie as well because I know it would be a hit. I believe that this book would interest many high schoolers as well as young adults. Gail Giles did an amazing job at making this book thought provoking but I would’ve loved to have known more about what happened to all the characters after the incident. Once again, this book has definitely made it on my favorites list and was thoroughly disappointed when it ended. (less)

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Dec 17, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dec. 17th 2012
Josh Leung
This book is revolved around some very dark themes. Throughout the story, the author does a very good job of keeping some of the darker secrets until the end of the story. The story seemed normal and didn’t stand out compared to any other stories, but the ending made it stand out and it’s also where you put the pieces together and the story completes itself.
An example of this is from the beginning of the story. Rob Haynes decision to make Simon Glass popular and class...more Dec. 17th 2012
Josh Leung
This book is revolved around some very dark themes. Throughout the story, the author does a very good job of keeping some of the darker secrets until the end of the story. The story seemed normal and didn’t stand out compared to any other stories, but the ending made it stand out and it’s also where you put the pieces together and the story completes itself.
An example of this is from the beginning of the story. Rob Haynes decision to make Simon Glass popular and class Favourite seemed to matter so much to Rob even to the extent where he got mad when things didn’t go his way or according to plan. For some reason, he called all the shots and no one else had a say in anything. Then around page 145, you realize that something is weird here since Rob’s dad is in prison and prior to that at page 89, you realize that Rob Haynes isn’t even his real name. These two realizations give off the feel that there is something fishy about Rob, yet no one does or says anything until the end of the story.
At the end of the story, it is revealed that Rob was in fact molested by his father starting at age eleven and had gone on until he was 16. It is also revealed that Rob didn’t even think of them as friends, he wanted to feel strong by becoming a person able to control other people.
Due to this, the author is really able to put together a suspenseful story and reveals almost all the information towards the end of the book. The author also built suspense by quoting characters at the beginning of a chapter taking the perspective of a character that has already known everything that has taken place in the book.
Another great factor about this story is the characters themselves. It’s about some of the most popular kids in high school. Everyone wants to be popular, but in this story it shows how dumb and easy it is to become popular. Simon Glass used to be bullied and teased by almost everyone, but within a few weeks he became tolerable and with a little more time, he became popular. It was really showing how flawed the social ladder system is in high school. It was shown throughout the story that with only a change of clothing he became tolerable. Then, he lost some weight and started to talk a little more. Soon enough, he became popular.
The author is ridiculing the social ladder system in high school when she used Rob to turn Lance Ansley into one of the kids at the bottom rung of the social ladder. He used to be king at the top, but soon enough he was at the bottom. This first started at page 70, when Rob was able to make Lance’s friend turn on him and then made him seem like a total jackass.
These are some of my opinions of the story and how the author used it. In conclusion, the author impressively feeds you crumbs of the entire story and near the end; she gives you the entire meal. She also made fun of how dumb the social ladder system was in high school.
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Dec 10, 2012 Ryan Anderson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodreads-13-25

Shattering Glass is a dark story that revolves around Simon Glass, an unpopular boy that is also a senior in High School. The book starts off with four boys, Rob, Young, Cooper, and Bobster, who want to see if they can make Simon the most popular guy in school, because they think it would be interesting. So they set off to build a reputation for Glass by having him tag with their popular group, wreck property, and also buy friendships. It's a dark game for Rob and his group as they try to change...more

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May 09, 2012 Leo Zhang rated it 4 of 5 stars

Leo Zhang
2012/05/09

The book “Shattering Glass” is a suspenseful novel written by Gail Giles which touches on topics such as love, lies. The story is about boy named Glass who is a nerd in the beginning, but Rob and his friends turn Simon to become one of the most popular kids in school. But unfortunately in the end, Glass is killed.
The author does a really good job at describing the life of a teenager, the fact that there is a major “social class” in high school is depicted in the book in a...more

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May 02, 2012 Aahildamani rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book that I chose to read was called Shattering Glass. The book was a brilliantly written piece of literature and I really enjoyed how the suspense was built throughout the story revolving around Rob and his mysterious past. The book was written in first person view from Young Stewarts perspective. The storyline of the book is how a group of popular kids; ones who reside at the top of the social ladder choose a “high school nerd” and decide to transform this clumsy, chubby, geek, into Class...more The book that I chose to read was called Shattering Glass. The book was a brilliantly written piece of literature and I really enjoyed how the suspense was built throughout the story revolving around Rob and his mysterious past. The book was written in first person view from Young Stewarts perspective. The storyline of the book is how a group of popular kids; ones who reside at the top of the social ladder choose a “high school nerd” and decide to transform this clumsy, chubby, geek, into Class Favorite and Prom King. All the characters revolving in this situation are in their senior year and are about to graduate.
I really enjoyed the storyline and how it explored and discussed the moral values of each main character and since the book is written in a first person view it gives us an even greater insight on the characters; Young Stewart interprets what he thinks about every situation which occurs and how he personally feels about the situation. The first person perspective was quite enjoyable and kept the reader interested because I feel as if Young can be universally related to every high school student. For one the character keeps feelings to himself and prefers not to share his emotions even with his family, has trouble dealing with his parents specifically his dad; I think that almost every high school student at one point have trouble dealing with their parents, and he is constantly looking for a leader figure in his school to look up too and listen to.
In addition to the great storyline the ending of the story would be something that you really did not expect. It is a gruesome but quite intriguing and surprising finish and it exposes the characters for who they really are. One value that is being shown is honesty by, lying the group of boys had led themselves to a terrible place. Suspense is also built leading up to the conclusion through the start of each chapter. At the start of each chapter it provides the readers with a narrative of a character who is related to the story. The narratives if put together and interpreted correctly you really can gain a huge insight on the novel. Before I give the whole plot of the story away I would like to add this is a great book for high school students to read about betrayal, trust, honesty, and the value of life.
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Apr 15, 2012 Carmen Yeung rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teenagers

Shelves: 2011-2012-advisory

__________Spoiler Alert c:_______________
I picked out this book from the library, because i thought the title was amazingly interesting. Shattering glass, reminds me of when people in tvb start to fight they will break the mirror or something. But it started with the narrator named Young, but hes not the protagonist. The protagonist is Rob, who is charming and just transferred in. I thought it was quiet weird to have someone just transfer in and become popular like that, but anywho i enjoy seei...more __________Spoiler Alert c:_______________
I picked out this book from the library, because i thought the title was amazingly interesting. Shattering glass, reminds me of when people in tvb start to fight they will break the mirror or something. But it started with the narrator named Young, but hes not the protagonist. The protagonist is Rob, who is charming and just transferred in. I thought it was quiet weird to have someone just transfer in and become popular like that, but anywho i enjoy seeing Young Coop Bob and Rob hang out, because they are like regular people. They shop, play sports and talk. Something that seemed unordinary was Simon, he was a geek and was very unpopular, until Rob decided to turn him around. After his new look and new style of talking, he is no longer looked down upon. Like any power hungry kings, they go after their prey after gaining power, Simon started to climb up closer and closer to Rob on the popularity triangle. Soon Simon even took Rob's girlfriend Ronna. The excitement doesn't start until the end, where they were arguing on the field and hit Coop with a bat and they ran, which ended the story with a lot of thoughts. One of my thoughts were that they would never be friends ever again, because what had happened happens.

The blurb of the story kind of summarizes the story, but i'm happy i actually read the entire book, because there was more drama and excitement leading me to this ending that leave me wondering with my thoughts. I really want to know what happens to Coop, Coop was the best one out of all their friends, because he tries to tie the friendship together. If i was Rob, i would regret letting Simon join the crew. If i was Rob i would blame Simon for ruining everything, even taking Coop's life. But since i'm not Rob i would feel sad for Simon, because he had suffered all his life, he was a nerd and he was picked on. No one likes to be bullied, thats why when people gain power, they strive for more to maintain themselves into a secure stand. This book was fantasic, i'm glad there wasnt a lot of violence, except the end where the blood gushed out and splattered everywhere.
(ps. spoiler alert again). (less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Chason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Chase Johnson
Miss Jackson
English 3
February 27, 2012

I read the book Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. It was a very interesting book and I liked it for the most part. There were parts that I didn’t really care for and it seemed like it dragged parts on and Making things that weren’t really a big deal seem like it was a big deal . Besides the dragging on parts it was very good. I liked how there was lots of detail on what was going on and there was always something exciting about to happen. The boo...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Bianca rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book “Shattering Glass” is a dark psychological satire, taking place in a typical sunny suburban high school. I really enjoyed this book due to its in depth look on social structure, and the thoughtful narrations of the protagonist, Young. The author included two elements in this novel that I found to be quite interesting, the first of which is the incorporation of the flash forward quotes. Due to the fact that it's known a murder will take place and who will be killed within the first page...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Jack Tong rated it 4 of 5 stars

Basically this book is talking about the main character Young’s high school life. Simon Glass join the group of the school who bullies who entertain themselves, and turned him even more popular than Rob(the group leader). Until one day, Simon actually get killed in the gym. After that, one lie is covering one lie, and it will never be over...
The book is suspenseful and disturbing as the cover said. Because it has so many similar way compared to my life. First of all, every high school has diffe...more Basically this book is talking about the main character Young’s high school life. Simon Glass join the group of the school who bullies who entertain themselves, and turned him even more popular than Rob(the group leader). Until one day, Simon actually get killed in the gym. After that, one lie is covering one lie, and it will never be over...
The book is suspenseful and disturbing as the cover said. Because it has so many similar way compared to my life. First of all, every high school has different social groups. Some of them are really bad and always bullying someone. It also shows the darkness of high school and reflection to our society. It talked about the rules that you can be popular in high school, first you might be okay looking, second you need to spend some money for your clothing, and you need to know how to drive. It shows the darkness because it means that who has the money and good looking, who can take over the school. Aren’t this reflect to our society, if you’re rich people in some poor country, you can act like a king and pay everyone to work for you, or you can control the whole stock market. Another example, if you looks like Leonardo Dicaprio or Robert Pattinson, people would chase you bad and you’ll get popular even your drama skills sucks.
Also this book is trustable, the tone of this book, the little things that happened in this book, the term of use are very similar to my high school life. Like year book is a tool shows that how popular you were, and there are always racial person in our school. For my experience, because our school has too many Asians , the white people will hate us took over their place. Also the popular person in our school are always good looking and had their own clothing style. Most important point is this story takes place in high school, if it happens in university, I don’t have the experience so I might not understand this story is trustable or not.
I highly recommend this to teenagers, it’s a page-turner for me because it’s interesting and always gives surprise or me. I spend an hour everyday to read this book and I really had a great time. Sometimes I will wonder what the character will do, and Gail Giles always give me the answer I like and surprise. It’s addicted like drags, I am waiting for the author’s next book.
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Nov 21, 2011 Zachary rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book I read was Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. It is 215 pages long. This book is ever suspenseful; I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It kept me wanting more pages after pages. This book jumped to the top of my favorite booklist. It kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. It only took me three days to read it because I did not want to put it down. I liked how the group of friends basically adopted the nerdy kid of the school and made him popular. It worked but then it took a turn f...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, realistic, horror, high-school, murder, violence, relationships, relationship-problems, friendship, peer-pressure, suspense-thriller, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 30, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, printz-award

Very suspensful and came together nicely in the end. I like and agree with Edward Bloor’s comment about the book. It’s characters play at Pygmalion, but they must answer to Frankenstein. Coop, Bobster, Young and Rob – stereotypical teen boys and stereotypical situation – change class nerd into the class favorite. Only there is a twist in this – more than one. Like in the movies, the nerd becomes popular and gets full of himself, rejecting the « nice » guys even though they’re popular- group that...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Val rated it 4 of 5 stars

A great book for high school students and reluctant readers, especially teenage boys.

Negatives first: This is a YA book, so it didn't have all the twists and turns of a fully-developed adult novel. It took me a while to "get" the main character. At first the protagonist's voice sounded generic (I didn't realize right away that the protag was a boy!) It wasn't until I learned a detail about his past that his voice really started standing out. Still, I teach high school, and I could see lots of m...more

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May 19, 2011 Brady rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are plenty of books out there in which a group of high school students end up accidentally, or otherwise, killing either a classmate or a schoolteacher. Usually there's a great amount of build up to the event. Maybe it's a mystery that you reach at the end. Maybe the kids are innocent of the crime and it's all about clearing their names. In the case of "Shattering Glass", however, the protagonist Young Steward does away with any and all misunderstandings right from the start. "Simon Glass...more There are plenty of books out there in which a group of high school students end up accidentally, or otherwise, killing either a classmate or a schoolteacher. Usually there's a great amount of build up to the event. Maybe it's a mystery that you reach at the end. Maybe the kids are innocent of the crime and it's all about clearing their names. In the case of "Shattering Glass", however, the protagonist Young Steward does away with any and all misunderstandings right from the start. "Simon Glass was easy to hate. I never knew exactly why, there was too much to pick from. I guess, really, we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him". And we're off!

Four good buddies, Young, Rob, Bob, and Coop are the top of the pecking order at B'Vale High School. They're handsome, popular, and all around respected fellows. Rob is the unquestioned leader of the group, so when he proposes a crazy quest nobody raises any objections. Rob has honed in on one Simon Glass, the resident loser of the school. Glass is fat, uncool, and socially backward. For Rob the ultimate challenge becomes the success of Simon Glass. He becomes obsessed with it, using all his charm and resources to persuade people to help him in his crazy scheme. Ever the follower, Young doesn't question Rob's goals. Not even when he discovers the dark secret hiding in his best friend's past. By the time the book reaching its horrifying conclusion you've already learned what happens to the four friends and the unfortunate Simon Glass.

The book isn't a whodunit. It's a towhatextentdunit. By reading the little quotes that appear at the beginning of each chapter the reader begins to get a sense of what happened the night of Simon's death. The question isn't what happened so much as it is, "Who was involved?". It's more, "To what extent was Young involved?". Giles is the master of the slow reveal. She gives us just enough information throughout the story to be interested. Then she'll toss in the occasional tantalizing detail just to suck us deeper into the story. Best of all, Giles never creates a character without there being some kind of backstory involved. If someone does something cruel or unfeeling, you can probably bet they've their own problems hidden away somewhere. What I liked best of all was the character of Glass himself. Simultaneously a victim and a victimizer, the object of everyone's attention turns out to be far cannier than anyone ever suspected. In a way, I saw this book as a kind of updated "The Chocolate War". In both cases a charming teen at the height of his school's society feels a need to keep himself at the top of the pecking order through the rigid control of others. The only difference is, in "The Chocolate War" the villain decides to destroy a fellow student. In this book, he aims to recreate him. And the results are almost identical.

Giles has debuted with a powerful first novel. The book isn't, for the record, actually as good as "The Chocolate War", but it is the rare young adult novel that makes you think. There's a lot of power behind Giles' words and her characters are a fascinating study. As a former substitute teacher, she's aware of her subject matter and their social constraints. Best of all, the book never falls into that old trap of an adult writing for teens and including lots of "hip" teen slang. The closest this book ever comes to slang is the occasional "Yo!". I can live with that. In the end, "Shattering Glass" deserves its praise. It may not be the nicest book about teen popularity out there, but it's certainly not the cruelest. (less)

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May 10, 2011 Garywu rated it 3 of 5 stars

A Bitter Medicine
Review of Shattering Glass, Gail Giles
To me, Shattering Glass, by Gail Giles, isn’t a very pleasurable book to read. But at the time I picked it up from the cart in the library, I was attracted by the story said on the cover, a popular group of high school senior boys trying to transform a clumsy and nerdy boy to a shiny star of the school. I expected it would be a funny and cheerful story like those Hollywood teenager movies. However, the result is quite dark and brutal: th...more A Bitter Medicine
Review of Shattering Glass, Gail Giles
To me, Shattering Glass, by Gail Giles, isn’t a very pleasurable book to read. But at the time I picked it up from the cart in the library, I was attracted by the story said on the cover, a popular group of high school senior boys trying to transform a clumsy and nerdy boy to a shiny star of the school. I expected it would be a funny and cheerful story like those Hollywood teenager movies. However, the result is quite dark and brutal: the popular group kills the boy at the end. When I finished the book, a kind of chilling feeling grabbed my heart. I was shocked by the fact that those charming and popular students were actually so evil. But after I rethought the whole story for a while, I found it contained much more than what I saw on the surface. It was like a medicine swallowed from my mouth down my stomach, bitter but good to take in.
Young is the narrator in the book. His parents are rich, and this is why he becomes one of the popular boys at Brazosvale High school. Young’s friends, Rob, Bob, and Coop are three other populars at school. Rob is the leader of them. Although he is not very good looking, he has excellent socializing skills: talkative, and always having a big smile on the face. But on the inside, Rob is a guy who admires power and loves to control others. Rob wants to challenge himself in some task to control and modify someone, so he decides to change a loser, Glass to the class favorite with his friends. However, at the end, Glass turns out to be a guy who abuses power just like Rob does. Due to furiousness and hatred, the popular group kills Glass.
In my opinion, the novel reveals the problems of family education to teenagers. Young, Rob and Glass’s families negatively affected their personalities. Young’s father never understands his son’s dream. All he has done is to push his son to what he wants. Young is angry about his father’s ignorance of his talent and interest so when Rob confronts him, Young is so touched that he completely gives out his trust to Rob. However, Young doesn’t see what Rob really is like on the inside, so he is used by Rob in the whole process of changing Glass. Young even gives up his girl friend, Rona for Rob. Young buries his anger about his dad deep into his heart. Later, when he feels his romantic relationship with Rona is ruined by Glass, the negative energy inside his heart is released. This explains why at the end, Young just stands beside his friends and watch them kill Glass. What Rob says to Young suggests the dark “shadows” casted from his family. When Young is upset about his dad, Rob comforts him, “How does a kid know when that stuff turns into something...not right? You trusted someone you shouldn’t have. That’s the only mistake you made.” (52-53) Here, Rob connects his own experience to Young’s. Rob’s father was accused by his mother for molesting Rob for six years. As a little child, Rob certainly didn’t know what his dad did to him wasn’t right. Rob trusted and loved his dad, “He was the best, absolutely the best.”(179) But when his dad was arrested, I could imagine how heart broken Rob was. What he believed and trusted turned out to be wrong. This experience might be why Rob turned to be a teenager who didn’t trust anyone and always tried to control and use others because only absolutely control of other people seems safe and accountable to him. There is not a lot of description for Glass’s parents in the book. They are rich and successful. While from a few sentences I found in the book, the couple appear to be fake and distant from their child. They never show up voluntarily when Glass’s new friends come to their home. “ My parents and I do a good job of staying out of each other’s way”(59); “I almost never do see my parents”(40), Glass says to Young and Coop. But Class’s parents seem to be too far away from their child’s life, from what I saw at the beginning of the book: Glass’s clothes at home are too out of style for a teenager because they are all from his grandmother and he’s picked up by the school kids very often. Maybe Glass’s parents never care how their child dresses and how is his school day. Glass spends all of his time on the computer and electronics. He has no love and communication with his parents. That’s why he’s so cold blooded.
The story makes me realize that there should be more forces from the public to help to educate teenagers’ moral values and help them to develop their personalities healthily. The society shouldn’t rely too much on the family education because in many conditions the parents themselves have problems and these problems may affect their children’s development. Schools or the Government should take more responsibility on that. In the book, I didn’t see anything done by the teachers at school to help the characters with their problems. When Rob’s dad was arrested as a molester, when Young felt disappointed and angry about his dad, and when Glass got bullied by his classmates, if there was a teacher who could stand out to help and support them, I guess their lives would become much better at the end. At this point, there is a big difference between Canada’s education system and China’s. When I went to school in China, there was a head teacher in every class who was responsible for students’ virtue education. When a student had some problem, she or he could ask the head teacher for help. For example, if a student got bullied, the head teacher would comfort the victim and criticize or punish the bully. Then everyone would know that bullying is wrong and no one would like to bully others again.The head teacher played a significant role dominating the school culture which most students didn’t judge their classmates by their appearance or family; the class favorites were always those students who were good at studying or who were honest, frank and warm hearted to others. If a student’s parents got divorced, the head teacher was also responsible to take care of that student’s psychological problems. In China, school education and family education are equally important, and they assure teenagers that come from different families can have a normal and healthy personality.
Personally I don't really like the writing style of the book. The author uses short sentences and chapters to flashback the story. This might be easy for English learners to read but sometimes too many short descriptive sentences weaken the suspicious atmosphere of the book. Before each chapter, there is a quote from some people related to the crime happened at the end of the book, which is supposed to suggest some details of the whole story. But I got frustrated about those quotes because I don’t like to do a lot of logical thinking while reading a book; I prefer to think when I finish the book. It’s like watching a play in the theatre of which the stage is covered by thick curtain. Viewers can only hear the voices, see the movement of actors’ feet and guess what people are doing, then suddenly, the curtain is removed and the play ends. For a not so smart viewer like me, watching such a play is just a torture. So at most of the time, I just skipped the quotes and focused on the plot in each chapter.
All in all, although I dislike the writing style of the book Shattering Glass, I would say it is a very educational book, because it could provide readers’ a lot of important lessons about the education and family impacts of teenagers, bullying and power abuse. The book is suitable for both teenagers and adults.
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May 10, 2011 Jonathan added it

As one of the many books that surround the issue of popularity, Shattering Glass by Gail Giles is one that stands out. Like other stories written on this topic, the gradual revealing of the dark reality of high school popularity is the theme of the book. The difference of Shattering Glass is that the ending of the story is located straight up at the beginning of the story. The question the reader is given then is not ‘what will happen?’ and ‘who did it?’, instead it is ‘what lead to this happen...more As one of the many books that surround the issue of popularity, Shattering Glass by Gail Giles is one that stands out. Like other stories written on this topic, the gradual revealing of the dark reality of high school popularity is the theme of the book. The difference of Shattering Glass is that the ending of the story is located straight up at the beginning of the story. The question the reader is given then is not ‘what will happen?’ and ‘who did it?’, instead it is ‘what lead to this happening?’. This is what Gail bases the story on and she gives a little sneak-peak quote at the beginning of each chapter which are the feelings or opinions of various characters after the events at the end of the novel happen. This form of foreshadowing keeps the reader guessing at which turn do the events turn bad and begin the spiral to the inevitable death of Simon Glass.

The story surrounds 4 main characters, Young, Coop, Bob, and Rob. They are all pretty much at the top of the popularity pyramid at their school B’Vale High School in Texas. Each of them have a different unique characteristic that is the reason for their popularity. Young is rich, Coop is the athletic jock, Bob is handsome, and Rob is the undeniable leader that has a magnetic-like charisma. The story however is told through the main character Young. Out of no where Rob decides try to make Simon Glass, the least popularity guy in the whole school, the end-of-the-year Class Favourite. With the help of Young, Coop, and Bob, Rob is able to achieve this. The darker reality of the cunningness of Glass is made known at the end of the story when many bad events that happened to the group are revealed to have been caused by Glass. After that the book ends of course with what was shown to the reader in the beginning, the group kills Glass.

Overall, Shattering Glass was a very well written book. A definite page turner, every twist of the plot keeps the reader guessing. I enjoyed reading Shattering Glass and the quotes at the beginning of each chapter kept me glued to the book as it revealed a bit more about the ending. I recommend this book to anyone high school student because they will be able to relate the events in the book to some extent to their school life. I would however not recommend the book to younger readers because of some swearing in the diction of the book and some topics that are not really suitable for them such as sex and murder.
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Jan 08, 2011 Cristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-relationships

I found myself a little annoyed while reading SHATTERING GLASS.. I had higher hopes for this book, then that which was the reality of it. The concept it self, not exactly original.. cool kids make over the geek to the height of popularity. It was unique in that Giles has the cool guys making over anther guy. Usually we see the loser being made over by the opposite sex. This twist is what had peeked my interest in the first place.

The writing is easy to read, the story being clear and pretty stra...more I found myself a little annoyed while reading SHATTERING GLASS.. I had higher hopes for this book, then that which was the reality of it. The concept it self, not exactly original.. cool kids make over the geek to the height of popularity. It was unique in that Giles has the cool guys making over anther guy. Usually we see the loser being made over by the opposite sex. This twist is what had peeked my interest in the first place.

The writing is easy to read, the story being clear and pretty straight forward to follow and the characters are all decently well developed.. so far so good, right? Therein lies the rub and the major flaw that had me so annoyed while reading this book. Our narrator Young Steward, who was believable in character as a whole; a well off, nice looking, cool, popular, and an all around good guy, not to mention really smart.. oh wait except he didn't see the real Simon Glass coming. All the signs of what was going on with Glass were there throughout the story, Young even says several times that something was off, but he was never able to figure it out. He doesn't even try. I don't know, it just wasn't believable to me. Giles wrote Young too intelligent not to get it.. add in that he couldn't stand the guy, the motivation was there for him to work it out. Instead he hands over everything he cares about to Glass in order to hold on to the approval of the mysterious Rob, mr. popular and the controlling leader of their crew... weak. If Young had figure it out and tried to warn Rob and the other guys and they just didn't believe him... the story would have worked better for me. It was all just a bit too convenient for me and the stuff that went down with Ronna, that was just way over the top and completely preposterous.

Although Gail Giles didn't completely win me over with SHATTERING GLASS, it was a decent read and with strong pacing. I thought the little snip-its of interviews at the beginning of each chapter, giving the reader a little foreshadowing of how things play out, was a nice touch.. although the ending it's self felt a bit unfinished.

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Dec 16, 2010 Dorian simpson added it

Shattering glass was about a group of boy picking on this one nerd then they turned him cool. The group of boys had and idea so they all came together and thought a plan to get the nerd to believe they actually like him. The groups of boys name were Ron, Coop, and Rob. Then there was the kid the pick on in class which is. A nerd was Simon Glass. Simon was a smart kid and he always nice to people but the group of boys always pick on him because he was so smart. So during the time when the group s...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: eng-420-elective

Genre: Bleak YA fiction

Set in Texas, this chilling story is about a rather twisted popularity contest in which the four most popular boys in the school set out on a quest to change the school loser, Simon Glass, into the Seniors' choice for Class Favorite. They teach him how to act, dress and talk so that everyone else sees him as popular. However, things don't quite go as planned when Simon goes against the rules of Rob, the ringleader, resulting a tension that threatens everyone and ending the...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Krista rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: eng-420

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 26, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-literature, english-420, bleak-young-adult-lit

Gail Giles’ Shattering Glass tells the chilling story of a twisted popularity contest in a Texas high school. In what began as a kind of dare, the four most popular boys in school, Rob, Young, Bob, and Coop, begin a quest to make Simon Glass, the hated class nerd, into the class favorite. They teach him how to dress, talk, and act cool, and gradually, he wins the favor of the rest of the student body. However, things don’t go quite as planned when Simon Glass begins doing what he wants to do, in...more

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Nov 16, 2010 Saundra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shattering Glass by Gail Giles death/drama/acceptance/teenage boys
rating: 4/5 stars
Good book about a boy named Young Steward and his high school friends. One day Rob Haynes, the most popular boy in school and Young's friend, decides that he and his group of friends will help change the school loser, Simon Glass, into the Seniors' choice for Class Favorite. Although Young is reluctant to help at first because of his dislike of Glass, he eventually agrees and he and his other friends slowly work...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, suspense

I had higher hopes for this book, so I'm giving it an "okay." The most popular boy in high school takes it upon himself and his group of friends to "re-make" Simon Glass, the overweight class scapegoat, into a popular boy. What appears on the surface to be a generous act soon shows undercurrents of something unhealthy. Rob, charismatic and popular, has a deep need to be in absolute control of everyone around him. He schemes, he manipulates, and he gets angry when others won't do as he likes. The...more

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Sep 06, 2009 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer-reading-2009

Simon Glass is a fat, clumsy, textbook geek. Everyone of Rob's Gang, Young, Bob, and Coop, hates him. Each for different reasons. One day, Rob decides to do impossible, make Simon Glass go from Class Geek to would-be Prom King, but this story is not in Simon's or Rob's view. This is from Young's Point-of-View. They decide to take him to the mall for some new clothes, and a haircut. They sacrificed some things for Simon. As Simon becomes more popular, he starts to show his dark side. One day, he...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Saira Gonzalez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-thirty-books, favorites

I thought this book was amazing because it had a lot of suspense and action in it. Young Steward is a talented writer who witnesses his "friend", Rob Haynes, taking control over the school loser, Simon Glass and plans to make Simon popular. The key word here is control because the theme is "you never know if power can suddenly maintain a betrayal" Rob Haynes is controlling everything; he can make people do this and order people to do that, just like when he made Young give up his girlfriend so S...more

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Mar 02, 2010 Raven P rated it 4 of 5 stars

Title:Shattering Glass
Author:Gail Giles
Rating:4/5

Gail Giles was born september 24 in Galveston,TX. She attended Stephen F. Austin University.

5 things I like about this book is:

* it was interesting
* i like how they turn a geek into a friend
* how the geek name glass knew how to go to people report cards and change their grades
* glass house was so big that he barely see his parent
* glass friends turn him into a popular boy

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About Gail Giles

Gail Giles is the author of four young adult novels. Her debut novel, Shattering Glass, was an ALA Best of the Best Book, a Book Sense 76 selection, and a Booklist Top 10 Mystery for Youth selection. The novel is about an high school boy named Simon Glass that is helped to become one of the most popular dogs in school by other students. Her second novel, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters, was an ALA...more

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Quotes from Shattering Glass

“You know, Young, this is as good as anything gets. I wonder if this is it? Is this the very best day I'll ever have? (122)” — 3 people liked it

“Simon Glass was easy to hate. I never knew exactly why, there was just too much to pick from. I guess, really, we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him.” — 3 people liked it

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