Trixie Stone is an imaginative, perceptive 14 year old whose life begins to unravel when Jason Underhill, Bethel High's star hockey player, breaks up with her, leaving a void that can only be filled by the blood spilled during shameful self-mutilations in the girls' bathroom. While Trixie's dad Daniel notices his daughter's recent change in demeanor, he turns a blind eye, just as he does to the obvious affair his wife Laura, a college professor, is barely trying to conceal. When Trixie gets raped at a friend's party, Daniel and Laura are forced to deal not only with the consequences of their daughter's physical and emotional trauma, but with their own transgressions as well. For Daniel, that means reflecting on a childhood spent as the only white kid in a native Alaskan village, where isolation and loneliness turned him into a recluse, only to be born again after falling in love with his wife. Laura, who blames her family's unraveling on her selfish affair, must decide how to reconcile her personal desires with her loved ones' needs.

Picoult's books always seem so intriguing. I had conflicted feelings toward the end of the book. I realized as a reader, my expectation is that the author/characters will be honest with me. I had a feeling of betrayal as I became more and more confused about who to believe. I'm not used to feeling that feeling when I'm reading a book. But I guess that means the book was good for the fact that it made me feel something, and made me learn something about myself.

Posting to Virginia. Enjoy!