Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age Level: 14 and up

# of Pages: 250 p.

RAC Book: Yes

Tyler struggles with both his home and school life. His father works for one of the most powerful men in the community and struggles to please him. The stress of his dad’s job transfers to a difficult home life for Tyler as his father often takes his frustrations out by yelling and him, his mother, and his sister. Although his dad never hits anyone, he is not afraid to yell and throw tantrums in order to get the respect from his family that he thinks he deserves.

At the same time, Tyler is still remembered for a vandalism prank he pulled the previous year. He is constantly picked on and ridiculed, but the most popular girl in school, who also happens to be his dad’s boss’s daughter, has decided to show some interest in him. When Tyler makes a difficult decision at a party to walk away from a bad situation, he ends up landing in even more trouble than he could have imagined.

This powerful story will resonate with readers in a similar way to Anderson’s popular Speak. This story asks many questions about high school life such as: Do the rich and powerful always win? Can someone be beaten into submission? Can someone survive abuse in all aspects of his or her life? Is it possible to stand up for yourself against all powerful forces? Students will find this story haunting but possible, which will leave them thinking about these questions long after they have finished reading.

10 Responses to “Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson”

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1 Brooke Valentine May 17, 2009 at 1:11 am

this book must be the best book i could’ve ever read. it definitely caught my heart and mind and made me thnk about the possibilies of reality and how twisted it tended to be!

2 david avila November 13, 2009 at 6:45 pm

this book im going too get it poepl think this book sucks but then agin this class is just made off boys i read the summry i think this book is going too start slow but in time it is going to be good yes us boys have a hard life like me after school i have too go work alot

3 amber testamand December 11, 2009 at 2:51 am

this book is a great book to read. thanks from the bottom of my heart for writting this book i loved reading it.

4 veronica from dubois aera high March 23, 2011 at 5:24 pm

At first the book was great . Just remarkable . You didn’t want to stop reading . Towards the middle , I got a little confusing . Things were still pretty fantastic ! But the ending totally disapointed me . It ruined the book !

5 veronica from dubois area high March 23, 2011 at 5:25 pm

At first the book was great . Just remarkable . You didn’t want to stop reading . Towards the middle , I got a little confusing . Things were still pretty fantastic ! But the ending totally disapointed me . It ruined the book !

6 Anonymous June 8, 2011 at 1:53 pm

this book was real good. im a tenneager and it was real entaitaning to read it

7 Rushi June 17, 2011 at 1:31 pm

I loved this book it was so great that it made me want to read it another time.

8 Desiree August 8, 2011 at 8:02 am

This book was not that great.

9 Emily August 26, 2011 at 2:27 am

I loved the book, It was amazing and i would recoment this to anyone in highschool. Thanks,

10 Anonymous January 31, 2012 at 2:55 am

what the hell is the theme