Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

I'm a huge fan of Courtney Summers books- I've reviewed a few of her books on this blog.   I like the stories she tells, although they tend to be a little more mature than the audience I usually write for.  Some of her books I would be hesitant to give to Intermediate students because of the topics she writes about.   

Cracked Up to Be is one of those books that is mature, deals with topics that tend to be more suited to high school students, but I would give it to a more mature grade 8 student. 

Parker is the main character, she is a deeply flawed young lady who is trying to cope with an event that happened at a party last year.  Before that party, Parker was the perfect student, daughter and girlfriend.  But something happened there that changed everything.  Now, Parker is trying to hold it together in order to graduate and escape her town so that the secret she knows never has to be told. 

Parker was a great character- sassy, smart and damaged.  She was someone who I wanted to survive in order to move forward and be successful.  I would suggest reading this book before giving it to any younger student since there are some mature topics.