The Mockingbirds

Amazing.

This is definitely not a boarding school I'd ever recomend to anyone. Alex has been date raped by another student and goes to the Mockingbirds, a group Alex's sister had started her senior year due to a girl committing suicide because of bullying. The guy who raped her denies it, spreads rumors that she was begging for it, and treats Alex as if she's easy. Alex begins to avoid the risk of seeing him as she takes the long way to classes, avoids the caf, and spends a majority of her time playing piano in the music hall while waiting for the Mockingbirds to try her case. As time goes on throughout the book, she begins to remember more about the night she was raped, being too drunk and passed out for most of the event. At the trial held in a laundry room, the Mockingbird council must decide if Carter date raped Alex.
This book mentions To Kill a Mockingbird many times, and it fits in so well. I'd recomend this to almost anyone. This has been one of the best books I've read. And if you enjoy this one, read The Rivals, also. It continues on from this book to where Alex is the leader. It's very good.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Lilac Wolf and Stuff Review

Funny little story - you all know I do reviews here, hunting down publishers to get review copies. I'm at the Salvation Army with my boys and I find an "Advanced Reading Copy - NOT FOR SALE" for $0.49. The title reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird, and this is referenced in this book quite often. My cover has a redish tint to it, and I have to say I like that better than the blue. But that's the only difference.

One reviewer at Amazon criticized the quote on the cover which says "Hush little students, don't say a word..." and says that this made him expect a thriller. So not too surprising to see where his disappointment came from. And I think he makes a valid point, it takes away from the actual plot of the story.

Alex wakes up in a boys room, with no idea how she got there, where her clothes went or even who the boy is. It does come to her slowly through the story. But basically she got really drunk and was date raped. I loved how Alex's friends gave her unwavering support and helped her get help.

I hated that the school was useless. The teachers want the school to be full of the best of the best so they ignore anything bad that happens. The students take matters into their own hands by creating a group that doles out justice among the students. It has amazing checks and balances and both parties agree to take the punishment whatever the outcome.

I really, really loved the teacher that told her that it didn't matter if she had the time of her life with Carter, she was too drunk to give consent and what he did was wrong. I don't think teenage girls should read this, I think ALL teenagers should read this. I don't think we do enough to teach personal responsibility. Carter thought since they were making out prior that she wanted it. Even though she said she wanted to go home, even when she tried to push him off. She was too drunk to fight back and his only defense was that she didn't say "no." Well she didn't say anything, she was mostly sleeping.

I also found it amazing to find the author herself is a victim of date rape. Something that is really the hardest form of rape to prove and prosecute. I think this book is a great addition to the fight.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

great book!!!!!!

This is a fantastic book. It is amazingly realistic and has realistic problems. You will feel as if you are living this characters life as you go through her whole journey.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am not sure how I can write a review that truly captures how p

I am not sure how I can write a review that truly captures how powerful this book was. The Mockingbirds is about standing up for yourself and being willing to fight for it.

Now thankfully I have never been date-raped but I think if I were I would react the same way Alex did in the beginning. She didn’t want to tell anyone because she thought they would look down on her, and that she would forever be seen as “that girl who was date-raped.”

Another reason Alex doesn’t want to tell is because she doesn’t remember it so she is not positive whether she gave consent or not. This is a huge deal, thousands of girls every year use that reason as the reason they don’t report/tell someone. Whitney paints the picture of a lost and confused girl absolutely perfectly. Unfortunately that is because it happened to her. After you read The Mockingbirds make sure to read the author note. It really solidified for me the feelings I had about the book.

The secondary characters in The Mockingbirds were really strong and I wish we had gotten to know them better, but I did like how we got to learn more about Anna as the book progressed.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. I think it is important to have books that bring up these issues and empower girls through them.

Wonderfully Moving

The Mockingbirds starts out with Alex waking up from a bad night of drinking and she's naked, in a guys bed, and she does not remember anything, other than she wants to get away. So begins a powerful book on date rape and the struggle to take back your life. The boarding school turns a blind eye to the whole thing which is sad. They are so concerned with how the school looks on the outside, but inside its just a mess. Thats why there are the Mockingbirds, a student run police force that helps keep order. I like Alex a lot. She is someone you feel good about rooting for. You want to stand up there with her and help her get justice. But this book also deals with how Alex feels about herself and how she tries to give her feelings a chance with another guy.
The good thing is she recovers, she makes a stand and wins, but you see snippets of other girls at her school who come to her, telling her that she's not the only one, that there are others out there. That knowledge gives Alex power because she's not only taking a stand in her case, she's helping others do the exact same.
Its not something for younger readers, but for someone in high school, it should be required reading. Just so girls can see that its not okay what happened and that there is help out there.

Wonderful

The idea that students have to discipline themselves is intriguing, and Whitney executed that unquestionably well in this page-turner. Sometimes when a chapter ended and I needed to go do something else, I would just keep reading. I had to.

A moving story about a date-raped girl and how she discovers how to use her voice-The Mockingbirds did not disappoint. Real love, real issues, real justice. You won't want to miss the enthralling contemporary novel that is this book.

Powerful and potent-The Mockingbirds is a story to which everyone can relate and love.

Page-turner!

This book was great and made me want to read more; the imagery was awesome!

Wonderfully written!

The Mockingbirds is about date rape. The story begins with Alex waking up naked in Carter's room with no memory of what happened the previous night. With her friends' help, she goes to The Mockingbirds, a secret student run police force. The Mockingbirds are The Law amongst the students. In addition to taking Alex's case on, they help protect her from Carter.
Alex begins the story a victim of a terrible crime. Over the course of the book, she slowly regains power over her life. She even acknowledges the fact that she's letting the rape take over her life. Her schedule, eating habits, and personal life were all dictated by Carter. The Mockingbirds helped her get over all of that.
Martin, a member of the Mockingbirds, really helped Alex. Even though he somewhat blamed himself for what happened to Alex. Actually, many of Alex's friends blamed themselves for what happened to her, even though it was no one's fault but Carter's. Martin was so sweet. I really liked how the romance in this book wasn't overpowering. The rape and Alex's transformation were the main points in the plot. The romance was more of a compliment to the story; it wasn't necessary but at the same time it was much appreciated. Of course, their relationship wasn't easy. Alex was raped, so its only natural for her to be hesitant about having a relationship with a guy. However, since Martin and Alex were good friends before she was raped, it wasn't as difficult as it could have been if he was just some guy that asked her out.
The Mockingbirds was so wonderfully written! The dialogue was never awkward or choppy; it flowed nicely. The plot was well developed and it too was well paced. My favorite part, though, was not the plot but the actual writing. Ms. Whitney's own experience clearly influenced her writing. By writing The Mockingbirds through Alex's point of view, the reader can feel what Alex feels on a much more personal level than if she had written it in 3rd person. Ms. Whitney also uses quotes and draws inspiration from To Kill a Mockingbird. After reading The Mockingbirds, I want to go back and re-read To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Mockingbirds is a thought provoking novel involving rape and a girl's decision to take a stand. I was reluctant to read it at first, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of serious books. I read to get away from all that. But I couldn't help the fact that almost every review I read praised the book to the point where I said, "I might as well." So far I've read the book twice, and loved it both times.

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo

Gold Star Award Winner! What happens if one night you imbibe too much alcohol - and when you pass out someone rapes you? This is what happens to Alex. She is attending a private school and studies music. One January morning, she awakens to find herself in a bed and a room where she has never been before. She is naked and there is a strange guy in the bed with her. She sees opened condom packages and then realizes what has happened, though she cannot remember the details. She can't even remember the guy's name. Alex quickly gets dressed and goes back to her room on campus. From there she tells her roommates and one of them insists that she speak with her older sister. They want her to go to the police, but Alex doesn't see that as an option. She doesn't remember what happened and she knows that she was out of her mind drunk the night before. She doesn't want her parents involved because she doesn't want to go home, and I don't think there is a lot of trust between them. Her sister, who is an alum of her school, tells her to go to a secret organization of students which she coincidentally started years ago. This organization, called The Mockingbirds, handles justice at the school. Alex makes her complaint to The Mockingbirds and the rest of the story is how she stays strong and is able to get some justice against this boy. I really loved this story. It was well-written and the characters were likable. It kept me interested. I do believe that Alex should have gone to the police, or at least to an adult on campus, but the reality of it is that many girls don't ever report this type of crime to anyone. They suffer through and never stand up. That is the important lesson here. If something like this happens to you, you need to stand up and fight for justice. Since the author actually was date raped in college and stood up at a time when date rape was not a believable crime, I believe this mirrors some of what she went through and faced. I really believe that THE MOCKINGBIRDS is a very important book that teens should have to read and discuss.

so good

really liked it

Law & Order: teen sex crime adjudicated by secret high school society!

The students at Themis Academy, a boarding school for exceptional high school aged kids, are above average; and Alex fits the profile. Gifted musically above any of her fellow juniors, she is expected to go far and hopes for eventual acceptance at Julliard in New York. So when she wakes up the morning after attending a concert to find herself in bed with a stranger with which she had obviously had sex, she doesn't know what to think, to feel, or even whom to blame. Yes, she had indulged in alcohol, something unusual for her; yes, she had danced and flirted with a boy she'd never met and had eventually gone with him to his room. But things are fuzzy after that, and not only can she not remember losing her virginity, she can't recall whether she'd said yes...or no. So begins Daisy Whitney's excellent precautionary tale of a good girl to whom a bad thing happens with extraordinary ease. Alex's life changes in one evening. And since the faculty at Themis Academy wear blinders and can't see any of their gifted students behaving in a less than civil manner, who can a girl go to for help? Fortunately, Alex's big sister had been instrumental in forming just the sort of group that can help win justice for Themis students. It takes a walk of shame the morning after, stares and whispers and growing rumors about what really happened that night along with the support of her roommates to convince Alex that what happened to her was a crime and not her fault. The Mockingbirds is a not-so-secret society that hears claims, investigates and judges cases brought between students at the academy. And because peer pressure and reputation is everything to young people, when they administer a sentence, it is swiftly carried out. Whitney does a great, non-preachy job of stirring Alex through her returning memories of that fateful night and revealing the self-doubt of many a date-rape victim. It's also a great lesson in discovering that although one is young, a person can still fight for justice for oneself and others. There's also a budding romance between Alex and her nerd-extraordinaire friend, Martin, that shows that rape doesn't stamp out the possibility of love. This sensitive yet sensible teen novel should be on the reading list of every parent, teacher, counsellor, and principal as well as that of both teen girls and boys. Especially instructive to girls is the warning about drinking too much in the company of people you barely know and to boys, the never over-emphasized warning that no means NO!

highly recommend for every teen girl..

Daisy Whitney handled the sensitive subject of date rape in a brilliant way.It is a must read for every teenage girl. It is written in a way that every girl will "get" the message Ms. Whitney wants them to understand.

A Must Read To All Teens !

This is a really good book for teens to read ! I Read it and it taught me some valuable life lessons about speaking up and fighting for what you know is right ! I have read this book 2 times in a row and its amazing ! Buy this book for a teen you love and they will instanly fall in love with it !

Great for discussions

My thoughts...Teenagers, young adults, parents, teachers, librarians, read this book! This book talks about the sensitive subject of date rape. It would be a great segway into a discussion about preventing or dealing with such a tragedy.

Whether you are talking about it or reading about it, this is a hard subject to breach. Daisy Whitney does a brilliant job of writing about it. The girl's story is believable. The emotions she deals with feel genuine as do her reactions.

While this book made an impact on me, I had several small issues with the book. First were some of the characters were very shallow. Secondly, was the adults in the story. They were constantly turning a blind eye and not taking care of their students. Lastly was the lack of police involvement. Date rape is a crime. The heroine, Alex, chooses not to go to the police, but rather a secret society within her school. I understand that this is part of the plot. This society, The Mockingbirds, are at the heart of this story. I also understand why Alex didn't seek adult or legal help immediately. She felt shameful and at fault for the rape. However my interpretation of the book was that it wanted to convey a message rather than just a story. Not all victims have the benefit of a strong peer group to guide them or protect them. There is no shame in seeking help and often times adults or the law provides the best assistance.

Overall, I enjoyed The Mockingbirds. Daisy Whitney is a strong writer and I look forward to more of her books in the future.

Great Debut

What struck me first about this book and then again many times throughout was the interesting, strong voice of the main character, Alex. I'm a sucker for good characterization. From the start, even as Alex begins to realize the immensity of what has happened to her, she is not wilting in a sea of helplessness and woe. She meets what she faces with a measure of courage and even ration that are both admirable. I love her quirky sense of imagination and creativity that are somewhat understated but still strongly present.

Martin is an awesome character, as well. He's just a regular (nerdy!) guy who likes a girl and wants to be there for her. He really endears himself to my heart due to his spectacular nerdiness, and my opinion of Alex is, of course, exalted since she likes him back. I think their relationship is a strength of the book because it is very natural and healthy and normal - something that is not always found in young adult literature.

The plot also really engaged me. Everything was naturally and logically paced. Even though the subject of date rape is so emotionally charged, at no point do things become melodramatic and weepy. Alex has a strong support group filled with people who understand her and who will stand up for her, and she actually lets them help her, despite being reluctant to share her uncomfortable and painful memories. I loved finding out about the existence and structure of The Mockingbirds right along with Alex. The connection to To Kill a Mockingbird is so cool!

The book carries the wonderful message of self-empowerment and speaking out against the wrongs that have been done to self or others, yet it is organically done through the plot and characters and at no point becomes preachy.

Great reading for everyone!

I purchased this book to screen it for my daughter and ended up being captivated from the first sentence. Beautiful writing, important story, timely topic, great message, empowering---. Great book for girls to read - and parents too. Also great for boys to read and understand that if it's not "YES" - then it's "NO." I look forward to more books by this talented author!

The Best Young Adult Book Published This Year! A Must Read!

Wow. I am speechless. Daisy Whitney is a debut author who will make a fantastic name for herself with this book. The Mockingbirds is something to watch, this book is making my Top 10 2010 books. Throughout reading, I've noticed that books that discuss the topic of rape either take it too lightly (Fade by Lisa McMann) or are so intense that I couldn't read it in one sitting (Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott). The Mockingbirds is the perfect balance between the two. The topic is taken seriously but you want to keep reading. It took me about two days to read, and all the while I was emailing back and forth with Daisy telling her how much I loved it. I was fortunate enough to be the first teen to read the book. Right away, I knew it was something special. I can practically recite the beginning of chapter 2 because I love it so much. The wording that Daisy used illustrated what the main character was going through really well. Looking back at the email I wrote Daisy immediately after I finished reading The Mockingbirds, I would like to share with you some of what I wrote to her. "Let me start off by saying it is the first book where I have actually read it when my teachers aren't looking. All through the school day I was sitting there staring at it in my backpack wanting to read it." This is completely true, when I wasn't reading The Mockingbirds, I was thinking about reading The Mockingbirds. I would wake up in the morning looking like death because I had been up all night reading it. The characters in this book were strongly written and had gumption. There were a few characters that made me want to drop into the book and slap them (hard, in the face). There was also some very interesting people that I couldn't have been more excited to read about. The Mockingbirds is a book you won't want to miss. The emotions that the main character has are ones that you know are true. I couldn't help but sympathize with her. Daisy Whitney wrote an original, truthful, engaging novel that readers are sure to love. This will easily be one of my favorites, if not the favorite book of mine that I've read this year. I can't give this book an amount of praise that will do it justice. I think that everyone should read it. Really, it will change your life.

A Phenomenal Debut - It Will Leave You a Changed Person

Daisy Whitney's debut book, The Mockingbirds, tackles the issue of date rape at a prestigious prep school, but she does it in a way that is less about rape tearing a person apart, and more about reclaiming who you are after it.

Alex is date raped and, after much consideration, she turns to the Mockingbirds, the schools underground vigilante justice system, for help. The group deals with the things the school administration chooses not to acknowledge exist. They have a system of checks and balances that insure the utmost fairness for both parties involved and act as court system in the school.

Alex's journey from victim to survivor is emotional, honest, and insightful. Daisy Whitney makes this story personal, she was date raped herself, and she wants the reader to feel that personal connection to Alex. Every time Alex questioned what she was doing and what happened to her, I felt for her. She became someone who I not only connected with, but who I cared for. Her pain was my pain.

The characters surrounding Alex lend to the story in such strong ways. Her roommates T.S. and Maia are there from the beginning, helping Alex and just being there for her. Her friend Martin, a member of The Mockingbirds, becomes this source of humor and happiness. His quirky science-geek knowledge lightens the story and had me both me and Alex smiling.

Whitney flawlessly weaves together this honest and raw story with beautiful prose, touches of humor, and more than a few gut-wrenching scenes. I laughed, I cried, I cried some more, but in the end, I felt good. I felt changed and not many books can do that to a person. I'm not going to lie, The Mockingbirds may be a little difficult to read for some people, but once the book is closed, it will have been more than worth it.

I've never been faced with a situation like Alex's. I've never felt that sort of powerlessness, but after reading The Mockingbirds, I still felt stronger. Like, maybe, if something like that were to happen to me or someone I knew that things would get better eventually. That life will come back to you eventually and every single day won't be a reliving of the event. You will get back to being you, a different you, a changed you, but you all the same.

Opening line: Three things I know this second: I have morning breath, I'm naked, and I'm waking up next to a boy I don't know. ~ pg. 1

Favorite lines (There are a million and one lines I could pull out and say were my favorite because this book was that good, but here are a couple.):

But it already is bigger than everything else. It already is the defining moment of my junior year. It lives in front of me, behind me, next to me, inside me every single day. My schedule is dictated by it, my habits by it, my music by it. This - the Mockingbirds - is how I deflate it. ~ pg. 159

And this one:

Justice doesn't work like that. It doesn't erase what happened. It doesn't make you who you were before. I'm becoming someone else - someone else I'm figuring out how to be. ~ pg. 317

A powerful book that manages not to stray into "lesson learned" territory A powerful book that manages not to stray into "lesson learned" territory.

Starting the morning after that night, The Mockingbirds is an intense book. The reader, like Alex, starts out not knowing what's going on and, with her, pieces that night together over the course of the entire book. It isn't until almost the end that Alex remembers the entire night, or as much as she's ever going to, and by then she's come to terms with a lot of it and had some time to heal. It's still horrible, clearly, but presenting the rape in that way, in short pieces over the course of the book, takes away the shock and some of the horror of it. It's not graphic, though it may still be triggering for some people.

Alex's big conflict for most of the book is accepting what happened to her as rape. She has loads and loads of guilt about being drunk enough to be taken to the room of a guy she didn't know. If she can't remember getting to his room or even large chunks of the party before hand, maybe she's also simply not remembering that she wanted to have and enjoyed having sex with him. While she knows this isn't true, the dirty and used feeling won't let her actually think that, she knows she has to prove that she wasn't "asking for it," something no sexual assault victim should ever have to do. It's bad enough hearing other people recount her drunken exploits of that night in front of the Mockingbirds while she's building her case; she could never explain her drinking and other bad decisions to the cops, her parents, or the administration of Themis Academy. It takes her a really long time to really believe that though she made bad decisions, being raped was never her fault, but that point is eventually made very clear for Alex (and the reader) by her friends, the Themis Academy Honor Code, and during her trial.

Still, this doesn't read like a problem novel. Of course Alex is consumed with what happened to her and its aftermath, and that takes up a lot of the book. But this is also about the Mockingbirds themselves, their founding, the checks and balances in their system, and ultimately their power over the student body. It's very cloak and dagger, but on the side of truth and justice! Through her interactions with the Mockingbirds, Alex gains confidence and strength. She also makes plenty of new friends and figures out just how much all of her old friends are willing to go to bat for her. She even gets a bit of romance. And, of course, this is all set at a boarding school for the extremely gifted. This book would be just as good and just as compelling (though not nearly as heart-wrenching) if Alex were pressing charges for bullying or some other offense rather than date rape. The story is really balanced in that way. Because The Mockingbirds is this year's big book about date rape, one might assume that it should be reserved for older young adults, but all the other elements in the book make it, I think, accessible to all high schoolers, not just the about-to-go-college ones. And, as the book points out when other girls start telling Alex their own stories, it's not as though date rape is something that only happens to high school upperclasswomen or older.

The book closes with an author's note where Whitney talks about her own experiences with both date rape and a student-run justice system. Resources for victims of sexual assault as well as organizations promoting the empowerment of young women are also provided.

Book source: ARC provided by the publisher.

Powerful and Moving!

I'm hoping I can get more put into this review than AH!! I Loved it!! Fan girl SQUEE!!
Maybe now that I got that out of my system I can write something coherent ;)

The Mockingbirds begins with Alex waking up in a room that is not hers, in a bed that's not hers, completely naked, and beside a guy she doesn't remember going home with. As she rushes to gather her clothes and get out of the room he wakes up and informs her that they had sex, twice. As Alex does the walk of shame back to her dorm, wearing the same clothes she wore the night before, she wonders how someone could loose their virginity and not remember it.

This is such a powerful book. We are taken through the journey along with Alex as she struggles with what's happened to her. As she avoids the cafeteria so that she doesn't have to see him, or hear him telling his friends how she was easy. She walks the long way to classes to avoid running into him. We're with her as she struggles with whether she should tell anyone, whether she should stand up for herself. And we are with her when she finds her voice and finally stands up for herself, and other girls like her, and decides to *SPEAK LOUDLY*.

This book was very emotional, but it's written so well that you feel like you're living her struggle along with her. I was laughing and crying and screaming in outrage while reading this. This book helps me realize that we all need to speak up when bad things happen, whether for ourselves or for someone else, and help cause a change to be made. We can all do something! This book is wonderful for teens and adults alike, and I hope everyone rushes out to buy a copy ASAP!