Bad Apple

by Laura Ruby

Overview

"If I really wanted to open up, I'd confess that I really am the liar everyone believes I am."

High-school junior Tola Riley has green hair, a nose ring, an attitude problem, and a fondness for fairy tales, which are a great escape from real life. Everyone thinks she's crazy; everyone says so. Everyone except Mr. Mymer, her art teacher. He gets her paintings and lets her hang out in the art room during lonely lunch periods.

But then rumors start flying and Tola is suddenly the center of a scandal. The whole town is judging her—even her family. When Mr. Mymer is suspended for what everyone thinks is an affair, she has no choice but to break her silence. Fairy tales won't help her this time . . . so how can she tell the truth? And, more importantly, will anyone believe her?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061927119
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/06/2009
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	845,692
File size:	324 KB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Laura Ruby is the Michael L. Printz Award–winning author of many books for adults, teens, and children, including Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All and Bone Gap, both National Book Award finalists; the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection York: The Shadow Cipher and its sequels; the Edgar Award nominee Lily’s Ghosts; and the Book Sense Pick Good Girls. She is on the faculty of Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program and lives in the Chicago area. You can visit her online at lauraruby.com.

Editorial Reviews

There’s wit and cleverness as well as sympathy in both the writing and in the touches of fairy–tale allusion. This is both an absorbing read and a thought–provoking one.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

Tola insists that nothing happened with her art teacher, but nobody seems to believe the high school junior, from her mother (who insists Mr. Mymer “took advantage of my daughter, a vulnerable young girl”) to the vicious readers of a gossip blog called “The Truth About Tola Riley.” Their collective disbelief leaves Tola wondering, “Am I so small, so insignificant that my own story doesn't need me anymore?” Readers will feel like Tola is hiding something, however, and will quickly become engrossed in piecing together what really happened. Ruby (Play Me) parcels out her story slowly, as Tola documents her relationship with Mr. Mymer, who has been suspended from teaching, as well as her family's mounting problems. To fill in details, chapters end with “comments” from other characters, from her mostly absent father to a former friend who uses the Web to spread pain. Readers will likely find the fairy tales Tola is obsessed with to be a clunky device, especially as the book reaches its conclusion; otherwise this is a creatively constructed story with a modern-day scandal layered on top of more traditional teen troubles. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 8 Up—As in Good Girls (HarperTempest, 2006), Ruby explores how technology affects the high school social landscape. When the story starts, green-haired artist Tola Riley has already been falsely accused of an illicit involvement with her art teacher. Mr. Mymer is out of school pending an investigation, and rumors are circulating among classmates, particularly at an anonymously administered Web site called thetruthabouttolariley.com. Comments by classmates, school administrators, and family members appear after each chapter, giving readers a diverse set of perspectives on Tola's situation. The teen is an unusual and likable narrator. She is sarcastic and frustrated with her environment without seeming overly downcast or self-absorbed, and her passion for art and fairy tales is genuine and appealing. Her harried mother, patient grandparents, and emotionally unstable sister are equally well drawn. Seven, her romantic interest (who also likes fairy tales and slipping cupcakes into Tola's locker), is a bit too perfect and too flat to be believed. The villain emerges as one of the most compelling characters; it is clear from her blog comments that she enjoys exploiting the perceived insecurities of strangers, and that her spreading rumors is as much about relishing chaos as it is about hurting her former friend. Tola's friendships, family situation, status at school, and understanding of the truth all change in subtle but appreciable ways over the course of the novel. Artists, compassionate teens, and readers who enjoyed Good Girls will laugh, hurt, and roll their eyes along with this witty individualist of a heroine and her friends and supporters.—Megan Honig, New York PublicLibrary

School Library Journal

The student denies it. The teacher denies it. Nonetheless, it seems that everyone in Tola Riley's high school believes that she is carrying on with her art instructor, Mr. Mymer. And now, Mr. Mymer has been suspended, and Tola, a junior, doesn't know how to stop the rumors that are traveling through the hallways by day and in cyberspace after hours. It's a provocative premise, and the story, which is by turns hilarious and touching, is almost heart-poundingly suspenseful, but the ending is difficult to buy, though emotionally satisfying. It's too bad, too, that Tola's schoolmates are so underdeveloped that they aren't realistic. On the other hand, Tola's family, a dysfunctional bunch coping with Tola's situation, a remarriage and both physical and mental illness, are a sharply drawn, psychologically astute group. It's as though Ruby drew her plot from the basket marked School and her characterizations from the one marked Family. Nonetheless, the protagonist, who is unconventional, insightful and full of angst, charms, and readers will be hoping for her success. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

There’s wit and cleverness as well as sympathy in both the writing and in the touches of fairy–tale allusion. This is both an absorbing read and a thought–provoking one.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

“A creatively constructed story with a modern-day scandal.” — Publishers Weekly

“A provocative premise, which is by turns hilarious and touching.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A clever, sardonic character study. Tola and her family are fascinating, quirky-yet-believable, and wholly likable. Visual artists will love this homage to creativity, and teens outside the status quo will find a kindred spirit in plucky Tola.” — Booklist

“[Tola] is an unusual and likable narrator. Readers will laugh, hurt, and roll their eyes along with this witty individualist of a heroine and her friends and supporters.” — School Library Journal

“Ruby’s novel has plenty to distinguish it. Tola is one of a kind—a creative artist with a distinct worldview.” — The Horn Book

Praise for Good Girls: “Harrowing, honest and wickedly funny.” — Libba Bray, Printz Award winning author of Going Bovine

“Pervaded by melancholy, witty, frank about sex, at pains not to indulge in stereotyping, GOOD GIRLS will undoubtedly appeal to readers made savvy about the otherworld of American school life.” — Financial Times

“A frank, realistic portrayal of teen life.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)

Praise for Play Me: “Guy lit with a brain and a heart, this has plenty to offer both romantics and cynics about love, film, and transformation.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“A good coming-of-age story where boy meets reality and discovers he may have to rethink the rest of the story.” — KLIATT

From the Publisher

A frank, realistic portrayal of teen life.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)

Pervaded by melancholy, witty, frank about sex, at pains not to indulge in stereotyping, GOOD GIRLS will undoubtedly appeal to readers made savvy about the otherworld of American school life.

Financial Times

There’s wit and cleverness as well as sympathy in both the writing and in the touches of fairy–tale allusion. This is both an absorbing read and a thought–provoking one.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Praise for Good Girls: “Harrowing, honest and wickedly funny.

Libba Bray

Ruby’s novel has plenty to distinguish it. Tola is one of a kind—a creative artist with a distinct worldview.

The Horn Book

Praise for Play Me: “Guy lit with a brain and a heart, this has plenty to offer both romantics and cynics about love, film, and transformation.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

A clever, sardonic character study. Tola and her family are fascinating, quirky-yet-believable, and wholly likable. Visual artists will love this homage to creativity, and teens outside the status quo will find a kindred spirit in plucky Tola.

Booklist

A good coming-of-age story where boy meets reality and discovers he may have to rethink the rest of the story.

KLIATT

Praise for Play Me: “Guy lit with a brain and a heart, this has plenty to offer both romantics and cynics about love, film, and transformation.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

A clever, sardonic character study. Tola and her family are fascinating, quirky-yet-believable, and wholly likable. Visual artists will love this homage to creativity, and teens outside the status quo will find a kindred spirit in plucky Tola.

Booklist

Pervaded by melancholy, witty, frank about sex, at pains not to indulge in stereotyping, GOOD GIRLS will undoubtedly appeal to readers made savvy about the otherworld of American school life.

Financial Times

A provocative premise, which is by turns hilarious and touching.

Stephanie Garber

There’s wit and cleverness as well as sympathy in both the writing and in the touches of fairytale allusion. This is both an absorbing read and a thoughtprovoking one.

The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

A frank, realistic portrayal of teen life.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review)