The Taming by Teresa Toten and Eric Walters

Katie has worked hard to be invisible. It's what allows her to slip through the halls at school unnoticed; it's what has kept her safe from some of her mother's boyfriends. Evan lives on being noticed. He knows when people are watching him and just how to keep their attention. He arrives at a new high school - Katie's school - just as the rest of the student body is discovering Katie through her brilliant rehearsals in the school production of The Taming of the Shrew. She's like another person on stage, a confident person capable of commanding everyone's attention. Offstage, she takes on another new role: Evan's girlfriend. Could this be her chance at happily ever after...or will this story take a dramatic turn?

(Spoilers below)

This book definitely surprised me; the book that I read was not the book that I thought I was reading. As the story went along and Evan revealed more of himself and his personality, I was surprised that I hadn't caught on to him before. Was I blinded by his dashing persona and his easy confidence? Maybe. I knew that he had a bit of a murky past, but I thought he would turn out to be the misunderstood bad boy with a heart of gold...not a controlling manipulator with scary ideas about women and sex. My own confusion made it easier to relate to Katie. Reading about her own lack of self-confidence and her shame over her life with her mom was hard. It was great to see her bloom on stage, but awful to see that ripped away from her. Both perspectives - Katie's and Evan's - were very strongly written and I appreciated being able to get inside of their heads and see their perspectives. This is definitely a book that should be shared with any at-risk teen readers as well as anyone who likes novels that look at the psychological aspect of relationships.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Me and the Blondes by Teresa Toten
End of Days by Eric Walters
Illyria by Elizabeth Hand