Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

Random House Books for Young Readers, February 22, 2011

Read for 2011 Debut Author Challenge AND A-Z Reading Challenge

Summary from Goodreads:

In the dim light of the darkroom, I'm alone, but not for long.
As white turns to gray, Kate is with me.
The background of the dance studio blurred, so the focus is all on her
legs extended in a perfect soaring split.
The straight line to my squiggle,
my forever-best friend.

Sixteen-year-old Liz Grayson is photogirl—sharp, focused and ready to take the world by storm with her camera. But Liz's entire life is called into question when her brother is accused of a crime—and the accuser is Liz's own best friend. As the aftershocks from that accusation rip through Liz's world, everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself, shifts out of focus. And for the first time in her life, Liz finds herself unable to trust her own point of view. Told in stunning, searingly raw free verse,  Exposed is Kimberly Marcus's gut-wrenching, riveting debut and will appeal to fans of Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson and Virginia Euwer Wolff.

Loved this book! I thought it was an excellent, powerful debut novel. The story is awesome: Liz is torn between her older brother and her best friend in a case of he said, she said. The crime being called into question happened, Liz thinks, as a direct result of her actions. She's starting to feel alienated not only from Kate, but her other friends, her boyfriend, and even her parents. Her camera is the only comfort Liz has left, until she realizes that even her art might not be enough to see her through this time.


And I have to say, I'm becoming more and more a fan of verse novels. When they're done well, they're very easy to read (this book took me just over an hour, start to finish). I have such appreciation and admiration for authors of all books, but verse novelists create a difficult task for themselves: every word counts. When using such a sparse amount of words, a verse novelist has to be so sure that the words chosen are the most perfect ones. Kimberly Marcus uses some really short verses, and some longer ones, but they're all so powerful.

Here's one of the shorter passages, just to illustrate my point (from page 87):

Panic makes its way up my spine
like ice water through a straw--
who else has she told?

Like I said, an incredible debut, and I can't wait to read more from Kimberly Marcus!

Borrowed book from library.

Have you entered to win a copy of 7 Kinds of Ordinary Catastrophes yet?

Enjoy your reading!
Christi