First time novelist Amanda Maciel sheds new light on modern day high school bullying with an intelligent fictitious tale based on reality.
"Tease" contains many of the behavioral elements of quote-unquote cool high school students in a PG-13 fashion. This teenage tale is complete with jealously, deceit, fornication and vendettas.
Loosely based on a Jan. 2010 suicide by a high school girl at South Hadley High, "Tease" maps out the paths of both the bullies and the victim. Emma Putnam, a 16-year-old girl, known as Slutham to a vast ensemble of her peers succumbs to her enemies harsh words, viscous posts on Facebook and mild violence toward her and hangs herself in her parents garage with a heavy duty extension cord.
Sara Wharton, one of five bully's to Putnam is a kind soul blinded by her unenlightened rich good looking popular friends. Beautiful notorious Brielle is the key instrument in the band of five students, including Wharton who constantly attack Putnam with their cruel actions and arrowed words shot into Putnam's heart.
The story starts with a cliché of eye pleasing well known teenagers par taking in alcohol and pot usage. To fit in with the cool kids, Wharton yields her virginity to the handsome baseball star Dylan. Wharton is officially a poplar 16-year now, the girl friend of the picturesqueness sports idle. Soon after Wharton's adult encounter with Dylan, she sees a Facebook post with Dylan and Putnam posing together with keg cups at a party she was not invited to. A recipe of rage becomes a hostile mixture stirred by Brielle.
Brielle is the mastermind who ropes Dylan, Wharton and two other guys, Kyle and Jacob into attacking Putnam's character. The quintet end up in the court room accused of causing Putnam's death.
"Tease," released in April effectively deals with the ups and downs of adolescence, its innocence, wanton desires and tragedies. Author Maciel in a very 'lawyeristic' way communicates both sides of the bullied and the ones who bully. Three stars for "Tease."
