SOLVED. '90s YA novel about a neighborhood that experiences a crime wave. [s]

[Lori]

I would have read this in the '90s or possibly early 2000s (before 2004). It was about a girl whose neighborhood was becoming increasingly unsafe and how people tried to deal with it. At one point a female character is raped in a parking lot.

[Rachel]

Possibly A Crime in the Neighborhood?

[Lori]

No, that wasn't it. This book was YA.

[Diana]

The avenger? A 16 year old girl is the main character and a (spoiler) mentally challenged janitor kills the guys who assaulted her because he thinks he is an avenger.

[Rosa]

By whom, Diana?

[Lori]

No, that doesn't sound like it. It was a realistic novel that showed how the community tried to deal with the crime issues.

[Rainbowheart]

Checking on the Moon

"No," I cried, desperately afraid to be alone. I too got up, stumbling with tiredness and the burden of it all. I knew what the word rape meant — forced sex. But what I didn't know, and was afraid to lie in bed and wonder about, was what rape would mean for Jessica.

Jessica had been working at the Centralia, and she got off at midnight. Her car was parked, as it was always, across the street, beside the high school. There was a parking lot in the back alley for theater employees, Mac told us, but she didn't use it. The alley was too dark, whereas Washco, the front street, stayed lit. He shook his head and went on.

She was leaving work, unlocking her car, when a man came up from behind and grabbed her. She screamed and he punched her. In the face.

[Lori]

I think that's it. Thanks!

[Rainbowheart]

Awesome, glad to help out!