Today I bring you the wonderful novel by Thalia Newland; You can't Shatter Me! Make sure to hang on.
title: You can't Shatter Me
written by: Thalia Newland
genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
page count: 160
publication date: June 22nd, 2012
publisher: Catapult Press
Sixteen year old Carly wants to write her own life and cast herself as a superhero, but the story gets out of control when she stands up to a bully and he turns on her. His increasing harassment forces her to battle flying hooks, giant thistles, doubt dragons and a suffocating closet. Dylan, a karate-trained nerd who supports her stand, turns out to be a secret admirer, and while he struggles to control his inner caveman, Carly searches for her own way to stop the bully. An old hippie shows her an inner magic that’s supposed to make her invincible, but will Carly learn to use it before her knight in shining armour risks all in a battle with a fire-breathing dragon?
You can't shatter me was a truly revolutionary book for me, because it was all so true. I recognised myself in Carly. I could easily imagine myself in this story, or her being my twin sister. The book was not like any other book I have ever read. Yes, it was about bullying, but not about how miserable it made people feel, but about how to stop the bullies, and how to understand them. And that's the best thing about the book.
Carly is just a plain normal girl, until she starts to date Dylan, the cute nerdy boy, and gets bullied by Justin. Justin is the stereotype bully, only worse than most. Carly tries to stop the bully, not with hate, but with love and compassion. Because hate can't be cured with hate, only with love.
Carly was a very strong kick-butt character, very likeable and full of love for every single soul. I could easily relate to her, because I was bullied, too. It was a long time ago, but reading this book reminded me a lot of that time. I wasn't bullied very much, but it really had an enormous impact on my life. I was not as strong as Carly was, and started to hide the real me. Only just a year ago I started to take off those covers, and show the world the real me. I really admire Carly for feeling compassion for the bully, because I still am not capable of feeling that way,and it was years ago. I really feel like this book has helped me take a step to really put it behind me.
The plot of this book was interesting, and full of knowledge that will be useful for the rest of my life. The romance was very cute and so realistic. Most contemporary books have this 'normal girl starts dating school hottie' scenario, which really is not so interesting after reading a gazillion books with exactely the same pattern of events. I love to see something new, and this book definitely was new and unique. The writing style was easy to read, I just was floating through the book.
I feel like this book could really help people with their lives, and that they won't even percieve that they're actually learning something because of the cute story that covers it up. I think it would solve a lot of problems on high- and middleschools if everyone read this. A book definitely worth 5 stars!
Hugs,
Mar
purchase links
