Review: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Mockingbirds

By: Daisy Whitney

Hardcover, 332 pages

Published November 2, 2010

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

from my personal collection

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.
In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.
 *POSSIBLE SPOILERS READ AT OWN RISK*

My Thoughts: This book covers a really difficult subject elegantly. Daisy Whitney's account of the aftermath of Alex's rape is honest and heart-wrenching story of learning to hold your ground, trust yourself and the people around you and forgive yourself. Alex is sickened by her date-rape. She thinks about it being her fault because she was drunk. The problem is, she can remember nothing about that night. Immediately, the reader connects with Alex and her story. She can't go to the cafeteria and constantly takes the long way to class to stay away from her attacker. There is nothing that she can do - except enlist the help of the Mockingbirds. I loved that the school's underground justice group comes from Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird. I read Mockingbird more times than I can count and I can never find anything bad to say about it. This is what initially drew me to The Mockingbirds, but I enjoyed this book for so many more reasons. This is the story of one girl standing up for all of the girls in her school by standing up for herself. Whitney's cast of supporting characters were just as interesting as Alex herself. They created a stable ground for Alex and allowed her to go to the Mockingbirds and try the case. I really loved Martin. He was everything that Alex needed to begin her healing process and I thought that he was incredible. I wish all boys could be as understanding. Overall, I thought that Whitney showed that people can come back from something as terrible as date rape and that there is healing. She took an extremely difficult subject and told the story honestly and openly.

Would I recommend this to my 9th graders? Probably not. The subject is difficult and intense and I think 9th graders would be too young. There is also a fair amount of cursing in the book that could be done without. Seniors and juniors might still have some trouble with this book but I think they would be better prepared to handle it.

Rating: 4/5