Cook, Eileen. With Malice. Houghton
Mifflin/Harcourt Brace 2016
316p $17.99 ISBN 978-0-544-80509-5 hs
Conflict
VG-BN
When Jill wakes up in a hospital, she knows she has broken
bones, amnesia, and aphasia. What she soon learns is
that she has been in the hospital for over six weeks and has no memory of that
time when she was on a group trip to Italy at the end of her senior year. When
she learns that she was driving a car that went off the road and killed the
passenger, her best friend since 4th grade, she doesn’t know how to piece
together the events that preceded the accident. Her rehab roommate, her
doctors, her parents and her lawyer become her frame of reference as she
regains memory and vocabulary. Shades of Amanda Knox, Nancy Grace, and lawyers
out to make a name for themselves are present in this fast-paced book
looking to determine what really happened and why. Various viewpoints are
presented, including police interview transcripts from
Italy, interviews with parents, teachers and friends, social media sites, and
Jill’s own fragmented memory. These narratives mesh together to form what Jill
has determined to believe is the truth. Readers will
argue whether the surprise ending is appropriate or not.
Summary: Jill awakes in a hospital unable to
remember the past six weeks, including a
car accident that left her with amnesia, broken bones, and a dead friend.
Emotional and physical recovery is a long journey. Excellent writing, seat of
your pants pacing. Strongly recommended for high school readers as the
influence of reality TV and social media now influence what is truth as
much as actual events and facts. Gr. 8-12.
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