Title: Canary
Author: Rachele Alpine
Release date: August 1, 2013
Publisher: Medallion Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Tour organized by: AToMR Tours
Links to the book:
Book Description:
Staying quiet will destroy her, but speaking up will destroy everyone.
Kate Franklin’s life changes for the better when her dad lands a job at Beacon Prep, an elite private school with one of the best basketball teams in the state. She begins to date a player on the team and quickly gets caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, learning that there are perks to being an athlete.
But those perks also come with a price. Another player takes his power too far and Kate is assaulted at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad’s vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The world that Kate was once welcomed into is now her worst enemy, and she must decide whether to stay silent or expose the corruption, destroying her father’s career and bringing down a town’s heroes.
Review:
Canary is a very powerful debut Young Adult novel from Rachele Alpine. This book stunned me, and the author had me entranced with her very powerful writing style. The story of Kate and her struggles with a terrible situation in high school had me gripped from the first page, and I read this book in one sitting. This book also feels very fresh and modern because there are several important current events woven into the storyline. When I finished, I immediately bought this book for both my 17 year old daughter and her best friend.
Giving up your old friends, getting involved with superficial “friends”, vicious gossiping, and academic cheating did not happen to Kate overnight; instead, she found herself on a slippery slope and before she knew it, she had turned into someone she didn’t like very much. I applaud the author for writing what seems like a very realistic portrayal of high school today, and for not wrapping everything up into a neat little bow at the end. We see Kate grow as a person and face her problems head-on. I liked the strong but very human heroine she turns into, and I whole-heatedly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a gritty, beautifully written YA novel that gives a small glimpse into the lives of high schoolers. It can be a very, very treacherous place. Thank you, Rachele Alpine for peeling back the layers, and giving us a glimpse inside.
About the Author
Rachele Alpine is a lover of sushi, fake mustaches, and Michael Jackson. One of her first jobs was at a library, but it didn’t last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and read. Now she’s a little more careful about when and where she indulges her reading habit. By day she’s a high school English teacher, and by night she writes with the companionship of the world’s cutest dog, Radley, a big cup of coffee, and a full bag of gummy peaches. Rachele lives with her husband in Cleveland, Ohio, but dreams of moving back to Boston, the city she fell in love with while attending graduate school there.
Author Social Media Links:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Giveaway:
(3) Print Copies of Canary (will be signed if winner lives within the Continental US) – International
(1) Swag Pack – International
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