Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Keir Safarian would like everyone to know that he's a good guy. His sisters love him, his Dad's a hard-working guy who has devoted his whole life to his children since the death of his wife, he gets decent grades and is on the football team. He's not the kind of guy who would do something so...inexcusable. He has no idea why Gigi Boudakian would say why he did...that...to her. He didn't; he wouldn't. He's a good guy, and this is his story.

Inexcusable alternates between Keir telling the story of his senior year in high school and scenes of Keir and Gigi reacting to a terrible event (a misunderstanding? Keir certainly thinks so). His story is meant to explain why he couldn't possibly have done what he's being accused of, but instead, it just turns everything into complicated shades of gray. It's a fascinating look at a high school guy's mind and character, and how he interprets what's going on around him. A difficult book to read, but an even harder book to put down.


Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
After by Amy Efaw
If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Monster by Walter Dean Myers