Twisted

By Laurie Halse Anderson

4 Stars out of 5

Twisted follows a teenager named Tyler through his everyday life. We follow Tyler as he gets his heart broken by the "angel" Bethany, getting bullied in High School by the popular kids.  We experience the pressure Tyler feels from his father to keep his grades up and to be what Tyler interprets as perfect.

As someone who was bullied horrendously bullied in high school I can completely put myself in Tyler's shoes.  I understood is extreme dislike of the teachers and other students, and the desperate wish that everyone would just leave you alone and stop whispering about you.  Reading about Tyler's experience in high school brought back tons of memories from when I was in high school, but at the same time I was glad to know that I wasn't alone in the way I felt in school.


Tyler's home life was very unexpected for me.  It seems that in most of the books and television shows that is the main character is being bullied at home that the parents of said child are the "kill them with kindness" type. (Maybe that's just how I'm interpreting them though.) Tyler's mother is very uninvolved in his life.  She spends her time taking pictures of dogs for clients and trying to stay out of her husbands way.  Tyler's father (Bill) is a tyrant. He expects Tyler to do whatever it takes to allow Bill to keep his job. So much pressure is put on Tyler that, when Tyler is accused of "lewd behavior, forcibly touching, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct...." against Bill's bosses daughter, Bethany, Bill immediately believes it true and spends 2 hours screaming at Tyler about how he's always making him (Bill) look bad; that Tyler is trying to get his father fired.

Between the bullying and the pressure from his father, Tyler becomes very depressed, and begins to seriously think about ways to kill himself. Then after actually putting his father's gun in his mouth and looking at himself in the mirror decides that he wants to live.

Laurie Halse Anderson did a great job of creating Tylers personality. Not only did she create a character that many kids in high school can relate too, she did a wonderful job in adding humor to the story. With all of the dark and heavy detail in everyday events, Anderson found a way to lighten the mood by adding sarcasim and dry humor to bring Tyler to life.

I definately think that anyone who feels alone or is being bullied in school should read this book. It's been years since I was in high school and being bullied but reading this book not only took me back to those days, it also made me feel better about my time spent in school. It sends a message of hope to those who are currently unable to see that things after high school can be so much better.  This would be a great book for the bullies to read as well.To be able to put yourself in someones elses shoes can change the way many bullies act toward those who they have been "picking." Parents should read this as well, if only to understand exactly how their child is feeling.

I gave the book 4 stars simply because I felt that the book although very true, was kind of boring. It was predictable. Every teenager all over the world is going through the events in this book, there was only 1 or 2 suprises.

All in all, not a bad book.

I was a different size, a different shape. I kept trying to squeeze into a body, a skin suit, that was too small.  It rubbed be teh wrong way. I blistered.  I callused. I scarred over and it kept hurting. I would never fit."

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