Hey, look. It's that girl. That rape girl, right? 
 When Valerie had the party that night at her house, she was expecting to be seen as the cool girl -- the fun girl -- ANYTHING but "the rape girl". So, how did she get to this place? 
 RAPE GIRL by Alina Klein starts with a police man talking to a teenage girl's mother, asking if there might be any witnesses to verify her daughter's statements. As Valerie learns later, RAPE is the only crime in which the victim is truly the one forced to prove her innocence. 
 From this point, the story alternates between the present time and the past event -- the one where Adam, the hot guy that Valerie always wanted to date, took Valerie into that room alone. He knew she was drunk. And she knows she said no. Maybe she didn't scream it -- and maybe he didn't exactly hurt her -- but she KNOWS she said no. 
 Why wasn't that good enough? 
 Valerie waits until Thanksgiving to tell her mother, who immediately calls the police. Valerie gives her statement and then she is rushed to a clinic. She is incredibly scared and nervous for what people might think of her -- for how Adam might react. Only one quarter of people actually report their rapes. 
 Is Valerie ready to be one of these women? 
 When Valerie returns to school, she is shocked and amazed by the responses from her classmates -- and even her alleged friends. Mimi, her very best friend, tells Valerie to rethink her accusation -- saying that she knew Valerie liked Adam -- that she wanted Adam -- that she probably said YES but forgot. And Valerie doesn't want to ruin Adam's life, right? And then the rumors start to spread -- that Valerie is a slut, that she's covering up her promiscuity with false accusations, that she faked the whole thing to gain a few popularity points. 
 Even her teachers and principal seem not to believe her, moving her to special classes and advising her that she must meet face to face with Adam, since he "deserves" the chance to speak with her. What about Valerie's rights?! Why is she being punished? 
 RAPE GIRL is a wonderful, emotional, heartfelt, engaging, honest, fabulous story that I deserved from start to finish. 
 There were only two small things that threw me off a bit, I admit. For one, the classmate who always started her statements in Spanish -- that got old after a little while. The only other thing was that the references to the Mormon church confused me a little too. The main character said she wasn't Mormon -- so I was slightly lost by where the author was taking this particular detail. Was she trying to present a message that I missed? 
 I loved the author's writing style, though, and I think it's awesome that part of the proceeds are actually being donated to RAINN. 
 If you love heart-breaking, beautiful books about real issues, give RAPE GIRL a chance. You won't be disappointed!