ON AN EARLY SEPTEMBER day in 1979, Jamie Wilson hobbles down the sidewalk on crutches, her broken leg aching. As the school buses rumble past, some jerk yells "Faker!" out the window.

Jamie flips the bird in response.

Big mistake.

She pissed off the wrong egomaniac, and this bully rules the school.

High school becomes a daily nightmare when her tormentors wage psychological warfare, starting with a physical attack in the hallway meant to terrorize. With only a three-day suspension as punishment and the threat of expulsion for any further physical attacks, the bitch squad change tactics, relentlessly lobbing verbal hand grenades at every opportunity.

Words are powerful weapons, especially when the school offers no protection against verbal assault. Suffering in silence is Jamie's only choice if she doesn't want to end up in the ICU.

But silence can become an equally dangerous agent of self-destruction.