Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Readers will be inspired by Mena's awakening, and particularly by the unbreakable and loving sisterhood she shares with her classmates. The real fodder for ethical debate arises as Mena and her friends decide how to react to the truths they've uncovered. The curriculum of the Innovations Academy is basically the ideology of rape culture made explicit: girls are expected to please and acquiesce to men, men cannot be expected to control themselves, and girls who have not remained pure are considered 'devalued.' Mena's initial parroting of these ideas, slowly giving way to questioning and then outrage, creates a suspenseful and claustrophobic atmosphere that eventually threatens to boil over with vindictive violence. Girls with Sharp Sticks 2 Girls with Razor Hearts Suzanne Young 3.81 3,091 ratings495 reviews It’s time to fight back in this second novel in a thrilling, subversive near future series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young about a girls-only private high school that is far more than it appears to be. This novel, the first in a planned series, is like The Stepford Wives refashioned for teens coming of age in our volatile modern era.

Young imbues her narrator with a keen intelligence that has been stunted with drugs and lies, and as Mena rids herself of those impediments, she unravels mysteries and learns how to fight back. Mena's journey out of complacent ignorance is harrowing and exhilarating. Yet when one of her friends disappears, Mena begins to question whether these men are acting out of protection or some darker purpose. Gr 9 Up-'The only worthy girls are well-behaved girls.' So teaches the staff at Innovations Academy, proud of producing the best girls, who are 'beautiful, quiet, and pure.' Mena trusts the men running the academy to know what's best.

Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young