Lisa read and liked Mary A's review of Names Will Never Hurt Me:

"Do your parent’s expect too much of you? Do you feel like a freak sometimes? Are you a “white girl with a tan that never fades”? Are you the eyes and ears of your school and you can get anything you want? Meet Ryan, the all-American football p...more Do your parent’s expect too much of you? Do you feel like a freak sometimes? Are you a “white girl with a tan that never fades”? Are you the eyes and ears of your school and you can get anything you want? Meet Ryan, the all-American football player who is everything but perfect, Tisha, a bi-racial girl who is torn between the black crowd and the white crowd, Kurt, nickname Dirt for the way the bullies make him feel, and Floater, the eyes and ears of a school where a kid was murdered. These people all hang out with different cliques and some struggle to fit in one. They are all main characters in the book Names Will Never Hurt Me by Jaime Adoff.
It is the one-year anniversary of the murder of a student and the faculty of Rockville High is tense. What is going to happen? Will another murder occur? Ryan is an all American whose father is an ex-colonel who still controls his home and son like he’s still in the military. Ryan is a pretty good kid until he is accused of raping a girl. All the principle can do is suspend him, but not before the playoffs! There is nothing Ryan can do but take the suspension. When the colonel finds out, he will be furious. Tisha and Kurt are two normal kids who get lost in the crowd and are picked on quite a bit. The principle wants to talk to them about “something”, when his and Floater’s lives are threatened by a rampant colonel. The yelling is getting louder and louder. Then Ryan walks in, and just when he is about to get his usual lecture about being perfect from the colonel, he pulls out his “just in case” and confronts the crazy man. The colonel and Ryan are about to go at it when Kurt attacks him from behind, saving everyone. This makes him almost famous. He is on the news all night.
I enjoyed this book because it could actually happen and it uses our vernacular. This book is about overcoming obstacles in everyday life and just trying to fit in. It very much reflects my life and all the stress that comes with it. This book is an easy read and it is entertaining.
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