Crushed

I decided to purchase Crushed after reading and thoroughly enjoying Zipped and Crooked, other young adult novels by Laura and Tom McNeal. This husband and wife team always does a great job of writing from the perspective of average teenagers. In Crushed, the three main characters are Audrey, Wickham and Clyde. Audrey, an innocent and intelligent good girl falls for the smooth but mysterious new guy, Wickham. Blinded by her first love, she fails to notice that Clyde, Jemison High's resident oddball, has a crush on her too. Wanting to protect Audrey, Clyde follows his gut instinct and digs deep into the dark past of Wickham. In the mean time, an underground newspaper called The Yellow Paper circulates the school, ready to spill everyone's secrets with its witty and biting commentary on students and teachers. Told from alternating viewpoints, McNeal and McNeal made it easy for me to really get to know the main characters. Audrey, who was naïve in the ways of love and friendship, gets a rude awakening when she is betrayed by people she loves the most and eventually comes out stronger on the other side. Her transformation is very believable and readers find themselves rooting for her even at her lowest moments. The only character of the novel that I found to be unrealistic was Audrey's best friend Lea. The development of Lea's personality, from shy and quiet, to reckless and rebellious was hurried. The surprising change was unexpected and happened to quickly to be believable. It also wasn't supported by clues in the text that might have explained why this transformation had occurred. The intricate plot of Crushed is what really drives the novel. It starts off fast and keeps pace till the last chapter. The theme of the novel, that everyone has a secret, runs throughout and ties in with almost every single character's development. These secrets, some that The Yellow Paper decides to reveal, threaten to undo their seemingly perfect lives. Story lines that include a fatal car wreck, bankruptcy, and cancer, propel the novel past the average teen fair and give it a mature feel. By the end of the book, I was satisfied with the directions the authors decided to take the characters, and wasn't let down or disappointed. The reason I enjoyed the book so much was because of how realistic it was. Gossip, rumors, cliques and crushes were all aspects of the novel that I could relate too. I love the fact that Crushed made me feel as if I could be there, at that same high school, walking amongst the characters. A believable suspense is also built up during the novel, which kept me reading until the end. This is mostly due to the wonderful writing style of the authors. McNeal and McNeal know how teenagers think and this fact comes through with their writing. The characters aren't your typical teenage stereotypes, and it helps seeing them from different points of view, a technique the writers have incorporated in all three of their novels. First love, physics report

The Anonymous Yellow tabloid of Jemison High is the real insidious protagonist of `CRUSHED', the third collaboration between husband and wife writing team of Laura and Tom McNeal. This husband and wife partnership has produced a limpidly written intrigue, believable characters and a thrilling plot. Audrey Reed, CC Mudd and Lea Woolcott are best friends. They were transferred from a cozy private school to a humongous High School where they feel lost and lonely. CC's brother Brian is their only friend on campus.? Audrey Reed, a poor little rich girl, is besotted with the new guy in class- handsome, smooth and money hungry Wickham Hill. He charms Audrey who has little guidance at home. Her father is busy trying to save his business, her mother has died when Audrey was 4 and her Nanny has gone back to Germany to nurse a friend. Wickham Hill is the illegitimate son of a rich doctor, who is weaning him and his mom from his money, and Wickham has a big secret! Wickham incites Audrey to help him cheat in physics class, which makes her feel uncomfortable. When her father looses his business and they have to move to a poorer district, Wickham dumps her. Of course she is "crushed" and cannot help stalking him. As a secondary plot, we follow an awfully shy teenager trying to get beautiful Audrey's attention. His name is Clyde Mumsford or The Mummy as the other kids in the class call him. His mom is dying at home and he is "throwing" a beautiful vase for her at ceramic class. Consumed by his jealousy,? he snoops on the Internet and discovers Wickham's secret, which he cannot wait to tell Audrey. Meanwhile, the sleaze Yellow paper is spreading ignominies about their teachers and students. Audrey cannot help but think that Wickham would be the next victim. Audrey is sort of creeped out by Mumsford appearance and mannerism. The head bully of the school, Theo Briggs, is also vilified in the anonymous Yellow Paper. He tries to discover the author of this story and?by bullying Audrey, he is given a name. However, she is still on his "to do" list. Theo Brigg's promise comes true when Audrey is walking alone in the parking lot of the school. Theo and his mean friends attack her. Is she going to be saved? Who will be her hero? Who is the real author of the sleaze Yellow Paper? The beginning of the story is a bit slow while the authors introduce us to the bevy of characters. However, the pace picks up quite rapidly and then the plot thickens and `CRUSHED' becomes a real page-turner. `CRUSHED' reflects the hard life teenagers have to go through in High School and how they get over it. Lily Azerad-Goldman, Artist & Reviewer for Bookpleasures