Bad Apple - Hardcover

Ruby, Laura

3.35

995 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061243302 ISBN 13: 9780061243301

Publisher: HarperTeen, 2009

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"If I really wanted to open up, I'd confess that I really am the liar everyone believes I am."

High-school junior Tola Riley has green hair, a nose ring, an attitude problem, and a fondness for fairy tales, which are a great escape from real life. Everyone thinks she's crazy; everyone says so. Everyone except Mr. Mymer, her art teacher. He gets her paintings and lets her hang out in the art room during lonely lunch periods.

But then rumors start flying and Tola is suddenly the center of a scandal. The whole town is judging her—even her family. When Mr. Mymer is suspended for what everyone thinks is an affair, she has no choice but to break her silence. Fairy tales won't help her this time . . . so how can she tell the truth? And, more importantly, will anyone believe her?

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About the Author:

Laura Ruby is the author of Bone Gap, a Michael L. Printz Award winner and National Book Award finalist. Her other acclaimed novels for children and teens include the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection York: The Shadow Cipher and its sequel, York: The Clockwork Ghost; the Edgar-nominated mystery Lily’s Ghosts; and the Book Sense Pick Good Girls, among others. She is on the faculty of Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program and lives in the Chicago area. You can visit her online at www.lauraruby.com.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 8 Up—As in Good Girls (HarperTempest, 2006), Ruby explores how technology affects the high school social landscape. When the story starts, green-haired artist Tola Riley has already been falsely accused of an illicit involvement with her art teacher. Mr. Mymer is out of school pending an investigation, and rumors are circulating among classmates, particularly at an anonymously administered Web site called thetruthabouttolariley.com. Comments by classmates, school administrators, and family members appear after each chapter, giving readers a diverse set of perspectives on Tola's situation. The teen is an unusual and likable narrator. She is sarcastic and frustrated with her environment without seeming overly downcast or self-absorbed, and her passion for art and fairy tales is genuine and appealing. Her harried mother, patient grandparents, and emotionally unstable sister are equally well drawn. Seven, her romantic interest (who also likes fairy tales and slipping cupcakes into Tola's locker), is a bit too perfect and too flat to be believed. The villain emerges as one of the most compelling characters; it is clear from her blog comments that she enjoys exploiting the perceived insecurities of strangers, and that her spreading rumors is as much about relishing chaos as it is about hurting her former friend. Tola's friendships, family situation, status at school, and understanding of the truth all change in subtle but appreciable ways over the course of the novel. Artists, compassionate teens, and readers who enjoyed Good Girls will laugh, hurt, and roll their eyes along with this witty individualist of a heroine and her friends and supporters.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library
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