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Novel provides insight into tumultuous high school life

Date published: 8/21/2008

By Stephanie Boscovitch

While reading "Read My Lips," a novel by Teri Brown, I began to wonder what it would be like if someone could know the secrets of everyone by reading their lips as they whispered to their close friends. It's mind-blowing to imagine all of the things that could happen if someone knew everyone's secrets and deepest tales.

"Read My Lips" is about a girl named Serena Nelson. Serena is deaf and uses hearing aids. With her hearing aids, she can hear low, louder sounds. But if someone is facing her, she can easily read their lips.

After moving to a new town, Serena is trying to fit in (just like any other girl). She falls in with the "mean girls" of the school, who actually are part of a secret sorority.

The sorority girls, while convincing Serena that she should want to become a part of the group, use her lip-reading talents to get the scoop about teachers, boys and other people in the school. This turns out awful. As more and more gossip spreads, things stop looking so great for Serena. By the end of her twisting journey, she has had to fight to keep her friends, keep the sorority open and not lose Miller, the boy she loves.

Girls can be vicious--and, in this book, they don't hold back. The whole time reading this novel, my heart felt like it was getting pulled. I couldn't decide which characters to trust, which ones to like, and what I thought was going to happen with Miller and Serena.

Many girls should read this entertaining novel because, ultimately, it teaches how to be a good friend, person and student. It shows how to get along with others, and that you can always make things better in the end.

Stephanie Boscovitch is a rising junior at Riverbend High School.

Date published: 8/21/2008