The Wicked Unseen Book Rating
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The Wicked Unseen Book Rating
Hate List
Author : Jennifer Brown
City/Publisher : Hachette Book Group
Copyright : 2009
Genre : Contemporary/Modern Fiction
Audience and Reading Level : 11 and up
Summary : Nick Levil is the only person who understands Valerie Leftman. Valerie Leftman thought she knew everything about Nick Levil. On the 2nd of May, Valerie finds out she doesn’t know Nick as well as she thought. To Valerie their hate list was private and only meant as a way to vent. Nick thought differently. When Nick opens fire on the students on the list, Valerie inadvertently becomes a hero and a suspect. After summer break, Valerie must go back to school alone and face the judgment, grief, and guilt head on. With the help of therapy and unexpected friendship, Valerie begins to understand the power of words and unchecked anger and who she is outside of others expectations.
Theme :
Hate : Some would argue that love or fear are the most powerful emotion, but I believe hate wins this title. Hate is easy, this makes it more powerful. It’s easy to hate things. Kids hate veggies, teens hate their parents, adults hate work, etc. Valerie and Nick create the hate list as a way to cope with the bulling and anger they are experiencing. It was not born out of evil but out of the powerlessness that they experienced due to feeling misunderstood and rejected. The issue comes into play when hate becomes unchecked. While Valerie never took her feelings further than creating the hate list and talking about it, Nick uses it as justification for his violent actions. When hate is fed by personal trauma and lack of support it can easily become unchecked which leads to irreversible destruction. This book is almost a warning of what can happen when people are not supported and drown in the hate. It also shows how school culture and social dynamics can contribute to a culture where hate thrives. Throughout the story Valerie comes to realize that adults and students were ignoring the hate, and they didn’t understand what the consequences of that could be. There is also the aspect of how hate can exist in the same space as love. Valerie loves Nick but she also has to come to accept that he did violent hateful things that hurt people. This brings forward the fact that there is a lot of grey areas when it comes to human emotions. The book also brings about how you have to move past the hate through forgiveness and healing. Throughout the book we see how Valerie goes to therapy and returns to school. She has a shift from feeling hate to having understanding and from anger to healing.
Accountability : The lack of accountability and eventual taking of accountability is shown throughout the book. First, we have Valerie who flits back and forth between thinking she is responsible for the school shooting and knowing she didn’t have any part of Nick’s plans. Yes, Valerie didn’t actually pull the trigger or plan the shooting itself but she did help create the Hate List that targeted the victims. Throughout the story she learns to accept that she did have a part in the horrific incident, even though she never intended any harm. She also learns a harsh lesson in understanding that words and intentions have real-world consequences. Now, lets move on to Nick. Due to the fact Nick ends up committing suicide at the end of the shooting, he is never able to be held accountable for his actions in the traditional sense. Through Valerie’s memories of Nick we see that he was kind and loving to her but he never accepted how deeply his hatred and pain were influencing himself and others. The book does a great job of highlighting how systemic failures in the school and community led to the shoot and how they could lead to another. They ignored the bullying and social isolation before the shooting and after. Before the shooting, the teachers/staff ignored and brushed off the bullying and alienating behaviors. This led to a culture where bullying was seen as normal and no one does anything to stop it. “We all laughed at it. We all saw it happening and turned away.” After the shooting the principle and reporters spread false news that the school has come together and that there is no bullying anymore. They do performative things like the “Garvin Strong” slogan at school rallies or building memorials. They try to force closure on the issue without confronting the truths behind it which leads to the students having internalized anger, bias and cruelty that can only feed into a cycle of hate. Valerie reflects on how people only see Nick as a villain and her as a traitor but don’t reflect on how they contributed to the toxic culture that led to the shooting. The interviews that are shown at the beginning of some of the chapters is a great example. In these interviews many of the people talk about how they didn’t even know Nick or how the victims didn’t know Nick, when in reality they helped to bully him.
Being true to yourself : Throughout the book, Valeire is learning to accept that the Nick she knew was capable of horrific things. One of the things she reflects on is how her own interactions with the hate list changed due to Nick. At first the hate list was just a list to vent through but when Nick started to talk about actually wanting bad things to happen to the people on the List, Valerie slowly starts to talk the same way without even realizing it. She starts to understand that she was shaped by Nicks anger and that their relationship wasn’t healthy even though she found comfort in it. Learning to separate your own values from someone you loves values is a hard thing to do. For Valerie, she was in denial about who he really was because she loved him and in order to heal she had to separate what was her values and what was Nicks. After the shooting, the world sees Valerie as “the shooter’s girlfriend” and “the girl who wrote the list.” She has to struggle with understanding who she is outside of her connection to Nick and the shooting. Valerie has to understand who her identity is without the influence of how others see her. Throughout the story we see how isolated Valerie is after the shooting. Most of her friends have abandoned her and her parents don’t understand her but she starts to build up her own strength by being honest even when its hard, to both herself and others. She also fights to find the courage to change and to choose who she actually wants to be. The book does a good job of showing how being true to yourself is a constant process that involves questioning, forgiveness and realizing your own power.
Reaction :
I can truly say I loved this book. It was well written, easy to follow, and relatable. Jennifer Brown does an amazing job at showing us how complex emotions can be. Normally I don’t like books that switch back and forth between past and present but in this book, I think it’s necessary to be able to fully understand Valerie. You can feel Valeries pain, confusion, love, and growth. Brown created characters you can understand, even the bullies who just went along with it because they didn’t want to cause waves and Nick who was drowning in the hate. While the circumstances in the book are extreme, you are able to relate to how Valerie felt misunderstood both before and after the shooting and you feel her need to escape in your soul. Most people can probably relate to Valeries struggle with understanding and accepting how someone she loves could do something so horrible. We can all relate to her struggle to figure out who she is outside the influence of others.
Something I think is an important question to ask after reading this book is “Can someone be good if they have made a horrible mistake?”. I think this goes hand in hand with the thought that one wrong choice can undo every good choice you have ever made. While what Nick did was in no way acceptable, his pain is understandable which makes him an empathetic villain. He was kind to Valerie and to those who were kind to him. He was smart as shown by his literature collection but he was given a shit hand at life and had no one to help him work through his pain. So does his one extremely bad choice erase everything else about him?
To me, as someone who was bullied, I think the bigger villains in the book were the bullies and the neglectful adults. The bullies spread their hate with absolutely no thought to the consequences of doing so and the neglectful adults created the atmosphere where bullying and hate were normalized. There is only so much that someone can take before they snap. This snap isn’t just show with Nick’s shooting but also after the shooting. At the end of the book, one of the victims Ginny (who was a bully) tries to commit suicide twice. With the school administration and news outlets trying to ignore the reality of the aftermath of the shooting in favor of spreading false news of school unity, they created an atmosphere that invalidated the emotional damage. They ignored the root causes of the shooting which left students feeling isolated and without support. You can’t fake unity, it has to be honest and come from a place of accountability and willingness to change.
My Book Rating System
I rate my books on a scale of 0 stars to 7 stars. My system does not necessarily say if a book is bad or good, rather it helps classify them through different aspects of the reading experience. Each star represents a particular quality. A lower star rating does not mean the book was bad, only that it didn’t meet certain criteria. I do not believe books should be rated on a pass/fail judgment, my system highlights what stood out the most. RA : Would Read Again (yellow) Does the book have a lasting appeal that makes me want to revisit it. RE : Would Recommend (blue) This is not just whether I liked it but whether I think you would like it too. 1 : Everyone should read once (purple) Books that hold importance : culturally, historically, or universally. Does it teach a lesson worth experiencing once in your life. BT : Does it pass the Bechdel Test (green) The check for female representation. Are there at least two named women that talk to each other about something other than a man. SS : Sleep Sacrificer (red) Did I stay up through the night to finish it? W : Would read more from world (teal) Is the world immersive enough that I want to spend more time in it. Is the culture, history, magic system, etc. just as compelling as the characters and plot. CH : Would read more of characters (orange) Are the characters interesting or relatable enough that I want to follow them beyond the main story.
Speak The Graphic Novel
Author : Laurie Halse Anderson
City/Publisher : Macmillan Publishing Group
Copyright : 1999
Genre : Graphic Novel, YA Fiction
Audience and Reading Level : 13 and up
Summary : Starting High School is supposed to be fun and exciting but for Melinda its anything but. Everyone hates her for calling the police while at a party over the summer. Ever since, she hasn’t spoken a word to anyone. She’s skipping class, hiding in an abandoned janitor’s closet, and barely speaking a single word. On the inside though, Melinda’s hiding a truth that is too painful to say out loud. As the school year continues, her silence becomes louder and louder. In her art class, through a project on trees, she begins to experience moments of resistance and starts to find her voice again. When the villain of her secret becomes a threat once again, Melinda comes to the realization that she cannot stay quiet anymore. She needs to choose whether to stay quiet and safe or to speak the truth and begin to heal.
Theme :
1. Isolation : Isolation is a huge part of the plot and of Melinda’s journey. After she is sexually assaulted, instead of telling anyone about it (even the police) she stays silent and withdraws within herself. Noone knows what is going on and everyone is just treating her like a troublemaker when in reality she is in pain. The aftermath of the attack and how Melinda reacts through silence and isolation shows how trauma can make people completely shut down in every aspect of their lives. This is parallel to how older adolescents can feel alone, misunderstood, or silenced due to trauma, anxiety, bullying, or any number of other personal struggles. This novel explores how isolation can impact your mental health and why its so important for people to have support, empathy, and safe spaces. Adolescents, and even adults, need to be able to understand how emotional pain can end up leading to isolation and silence. It’s also important to understand the importance of listening not just to peoples words but their actions as well. Another thing the book shows is how a small act of kindness, like Melinda experiences from David, can be the support someone needs to feel seen and begin their journey to healing.
2. Mental Health : Throughout the decades I think mental health is something that we are still figuring out. We went from it doesn’t exist to omg it’s the most important thing ever. I personally think, we have yet to find the happy medium in between. In the novel, Melinda experiences depression and a disconnection from those around her. Not only does she stop speaking but she also stops taking care of herself, skips school, and hides in the janitors closet just so she can feel a little bit of safety. These are all signs of her dealing with untreated/unrecognized trauma and mental health issues. Although these signs are all there, no one seems to notice or rather they don’t take her seriously and aren’t asking the right questions. This can be parallel to adolescence who are struggling with mental health and how they can go unnoticed and unsupported. Not only does this book break the stigma that mental health shouldn’t be talked about, but it also shows that people who look fine can still be struggling. The novel also helps understand the signs of emotional distress that people may be missing in others or even in themselves while also showing how important it is to ask for help and offer support to others.
3. Courage and Resilience : Throughout the novel, Melinda is paralyzed by both fear and shame due to her trauma and how people are treating her. Even while staying silent she still shows resilience in the way she keeps going back to school, expressing herself through her art, and even just her observations of the world around her. They are small things that show her resilience. As the novel goes on, Melinda’s courage grows from naming what happened to her in her thoughts to saying it out loud. While not loud or dramatic, she does confront her attacker in order to protect herself and others. I think this is super important for adolescence, and adults, to understand. Courage isn’t always big speeches or superhero like actions, courage can also be quiet and gradual. The book encourages you value persistence and inner strength through hard times. It also shows that healing takes time and support, it doesn’t happen overnight.
Reaction :
I definitely liked the book, although I would have rather read the novel version. Since I was a preteen, I have always loved graphic novels and comics. Now as an I adult, reading this graphic novel, I did come to the realization that I read them the same way I used to read ebooks. I skimmed. I was either only reading the words or only looking at the graphics. In order to do both, I had to consciously put in effort and often times had to go back and relook at a page. So I think graphic novels can be more exciting for students to read but you have to make sure they are actually getting the full picture and not skimming.
The author did a good job of hiding what the secret was throughout the book. I think, I only started connecting the dots a little over half way through the book. So it was exciting that I didn’t immediately know what the secret was. Anderson did a great job dropping clues through behavior and thoughts. You could get the clear picture that something terrible happened just not what. The slow build up to the truth makes the story a lot more intense and emotional. It also makes it more interesting because as a reader you have to keep reading in order to find out what happened. I also think that holding off on the reveal makes you go “ohhhh, Melinda’s actions make so much more sense now”, which is something you wouldn’t get to experience if you knew from the start what happened. It also gives you a heaver impact on the reality that people suffer in silence all the time and some never gain the courage to speak up or fully process what they have gone through.
So many people fear death or think of it as a punishment when in reality it is just the one thing everything in the world has in common. Plants, animals, and humans all die at some point. We all fight every day for our survival. Death itself is not violent or malicious, the events that lead up to it might be, but death itself is not.
Home is Not a Country
Author : Safia Elhillo
City/Publisher : Random House Children’s Books, division of Penguin Random House LLC
Copyright : 2021
Genre : Free Verse Fiction
Audience and Reading Level : 12 and up
Summary : Nima doesn’t belong; not at school, in her town or even in her own skin. She wishes she were someone else, someone stronger, someone like Yasmeen, the version of herself that could have existed if her father hadn’t died and they had stayed in their home country. After a violent attack, her world is shaken and Yasmeen comes to life. Nima follows Yasmeen through a dreamlike journey where she uncovers family secrets and the power of her own voice. Will she keep running from her identity, or will she embrace all the pieces that make her whole?
Theme :
1. Hate : The theme of hate definitely shapes various characters’ experiences in this book, especially Nima’s. Throughout the book you see how Nima is forced to face racism, xenophobia, cultural rejection, and self-hate. Not only does the country she is living in treat her like an outsider, Nima also questions her own identity and self-worth. Through all these experiences, readers can see how hate can be quiet and personal. Even just showing up as shame, isolation, and the desire to be someone else. This book shows how hate drives wedges between people and within themselves and encourages readers to feel empathy. Although hate is a strong theme in this book, there is also a message of hope and transformation through Nima beginning to have self-acceptance and healing.
2. Identity : The struggle to understand who we are and where we belong is something all adolescences and even adults experience. Nima’s character doesn’t feel accepted in her American surroundings or her Sudanese heritage and is constantly wondering what her life could have been if her father hadn’t died or if her family had stayed in their home country. The novel shows us that our identity is shaped by our culture, family, memories, and environment. As Nima goes through her journey she learns that you don’t have to erase parts of yourself in order to belong. This novel shows us that our identity is complex and personal and is always evolving.
3. Loss : Loss is a central theme throughout Nima’s life, from the death of her father to her cultural connection and understanding of her own identity. The loss of her father looms over her. She is pretty consistently dreaming of what her life would have been if he had survived and imagining herself as an alternate version named Yasmeen. Her sadness and yearning over what could have been shows readers that loss doesn’t always fade, it can stick around, transform and affect every part of your being. This theme not only encourages you to feel empathy for others but also validates your own pain. It tells how grief and loss aren’t easy but they don’t have to define you completely.
Reaction :
I was not expecting to like this book at all since it is written in free verse. Typically I only like poetry that rhymes, however this book was written so well that I got invested and needed to know what was going to happen. Nima’s struggle with where she belongs and who she is felt very real, and the dreamlike elements of the story added an extra portion of intrigue that made it impossible to stop reading. One section I really liked was this one “I have to keep moving to outrun this day this week”. I think this passage is extremely relatable, especially as an adult in world where you have to work a minimum of 40 hours at a job you probably don’t love just to make ends meet and survive. Another passage that is relatable is this one “I wish someone was here who could protect me”. I think everyone has felt like this at some point. It’s why we love our fictional stories of heroes and saviors so much.
Autumn curriculum.
A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one. I quite enjoy being a jack of all trades, for it keeps life endlessly interesting and full of discovery.
The Book Thief
Author : Markus Zusak
City/Publisher : Penguin Random House LLC
Copyright : 2005
Genre : Historical Fiction
Audience and Reading Level : 12 and up
Summary : There is war. There is loss. There is silence. In Nazi Germany, fear lingers in the air like smoke. Liesel Meminger’s beginning starts with a stolen book, taken from her brother’s grave. With the help of a gentle foster father and sharp-tongued foster mother, Liesel slowly learns to read, stealing books when she can. When the bombs begin to fall and her world grows even darker, Liesel learns the true power of words. The power to comfort, resist, and remember. Death is always watching, narrating Liesel’s story with curiosity and sorrow. In a time of hatred, Liesel must decide what kind of person she will be.
Themes :
1. Empathy : This book explores understanding and compassion during a dark period of our history. As Liesel’s empathy grows for those around her, students can learn how powerful it is to connect with others’ main and humanity. Liesel befriends the Jewish man hiding in her basement and ends up risking her own safety to bring others joy through stolen books and stories. Even Death ends up showing empathy as he speaks about the pain and beauty of human life. Empathy helps people understand that the world isn’t a simple good and evil. This novel helps students understand that having empathy doesn’t make you weak, it makes you courageous.
2. Grief : Grief is woven through the this book and it shapes the characters and the choices they make. Liesel’s story starts in a moment of grief, the death of her brother and the disappearance of her mother when she is left with foster parents. As the story continues, grief becomes a part of Liesel’s daily life and it ends up transforming her. She learns to cope with her grief through reading, writing and storytelling. Hans, her foster father, shows us his grief through the way he mourns the war while Max, the Jewish man hiding in the basement, shows his grief of being hunted and separated from his family. Even Death shows his grief at the repeated loss of human life. The novel shows students that everyone experiences difficult emotions, but that grief is not meant to be hidden or feared. Instead, it is meant to be understood, expressed, and grown through. Gaining a better understanding of grief helps to gain compassion for others and yourself.
3. Survival : Survival shapes every single character’s journey in this book. Their survival is about staying alive but also hanging on to their identity, kindness, and humanity when the world is dangerous, full of fear, and cruel. Liesel must survive the physical side of war but also the emotional toll of her losses, hunger, and fear. Liesel and her friend Rudy turn to stealing, in order to not starve but they can’t share the food with their families for fear of being caught and punished. Max has to survive in complete isolation while clinging to the stories he has created and the friendship he ends up forming with Liesel. Rosa and Hans have to keep their family strong even when food is scarce and threats surround them. When Liesel comes to the realization that Hitler is the reason her mother is gone Hans has to teach her a quick lesson in survival. Liesel shouts angrily about her hatred of Hitler while in public. Hans immediately slaps her and informs her that she cannot say those things outside the safety of their home and forces her to perform the Hiel Hitler. Hans knows that Liesel and possibly his whole family will die if others heard what Liesel said. Liesel must conform in public just as Hans has been.
Reaction :
I have known this book existed since shortly after it was published but I had never actually read it. Being able to finally read this book made me realize I probably should have read it earlier. It is written differently than most books I read. It was interesting to have death as the narrator and how he would give hints as to things that will happen in the future. It made me want to keep reading in order to find out what Death meant. I think this book does an excellent job in showing us how different people of different standings survive and the things different people are willing to do or let be done in order to survive.
The character I found most interesting was Mr. Steiner. Almost right off the bat he gained my attention due to his reaction to how the Nazi’s were dealing with the Jews. We learn from Mr. Steiner that the Nazi’s told him, and likely others, that the Jews were going to come in and take all his customers away. For a poor man like Mr. Steiner, no customers means that his already struggling family would starve and die. So while Mr. Steiner held no ill will towards the Jews, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that they weren’t there to take his customers away. His stance on the situation is realistic and likely reflective of the average persons stance during that time while under Nazi rule.
One of my favorite quotes in the whole book happens right at the beginning, before we even truly meet Liesel. “I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result.” This quote is from death, he is trying to reassure us. So many people fear death or think of it as a punishment when in reality it is just the one thing everything in the world has in common. Plants, animals, and humans all die at some point and we all fight for our survival. Death itself is not violent or malicious, the events that lead up to it might be, but death itself is not. This death is a precursor to the entire book and forces you to think about life and loss in a different way. Death is not the stories villain, he is simply an observer that has to silently witness the brutality and horrors of humanity. While he doesn’t exactly enjoy his job, Death does it with an interesting sense of respect and grief. Death shows us that suffering is not caused by death but by war, hatred, poverty, and injustice. At the end, death is what arrives to give you a reprieve from the suffering.
Where I was to where I am. The first photo of the hands was done about 13-14 years ago and the second photo “We Are Warriors” was completed 12/24/24. You can buy the “We Are Warriors” at my Redbubble, Redbubble.com/people/hephaestusgift