From the Bookshelf of Mock Printz 2026…

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

E.K. Johnston

Start date: April 1, 2016

Finish date: April 30, 2016

Discussion: Mock Printz 2017

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Mock Printz 2017

2017 Printz
By Bang Bang Boo… · 7 posts · 133 views

last updated Jan 29, 2017 05:09PM

October: The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
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last updated Jan 20, 2017 08:21PM

What Members Thought

Nov 01, 2016 Dana Berglund rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult

This book certainly won't be for everyone. It has realistic, terrible mature content, and may be triggering or traumatic. People may argue that Hermione's experience isn't representative of everyone else's (which the author addresses in the Author's Note). Some people won't like the political implications. But it's a Canadian book, so we can just brush those off, right?
I thought this book was just shy of brilliant. It's a beautiful story of friendship and support. It's a nightmare of a mystery. ...more

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Aug 19, 2016 Debrarian rated it really liked it

Shelves: booktalkable, ya-aka-teen, queer-plus, sports, issues-y, girl-power

*Spoiler alert, but only if you didn't read the jacket copy.*

It's the summer before senior year. Longtime best friends Hermione and Polly are co-captains of the cheer team, leading their crew through the rigors of cheer camp for the last time. But at the final dance someone puts something in Hermione's drink, and the next thing she knows she's coming to in the hospital. She's been raped. Senior year is about to look very different for Hermione, her friends, her team, her family, and her school. *Spoiler alert, but only if you didn't read the jacket copy.*

It's the summer before senior year. Longtime best friends Hermione and Polly are co-captains of the cheer team, leading their crew through the rigors of cheer camp for the last time. But at the final dance someone puts something in Hermione's drink, and the next thing she knows she's coming to in the hospital. She's been raped. Senior year is about to look very different for Hermione, her friends, her team, her family, and her school. Herminone is a young woman very used to defining her own path. Does she still get to?

Strengths: A story that allows space for a young woman to deal with having been raped without defining her or the story as About Rape. A wide array of responses among her peers and community to her in the aftermath (although in general she has support so wonderful as to appear idealized). A story in which a woman who got raped fights, successfully, to maintain her own agency in her own life. Also, an interesting and discussable title.

Quibbles: I could see that Polly was fierce, and loyal to Hermione, but other than being told that they'd been friends forever, I felt like I didn't get to see the inner workings of their friendship in action. I wanted in on the nitty-gritty of that bond, not just to observe the results of it.
Indeed many of the characters felt a little too lightly sketched to me. They played a variety of interesting roles in the well-shaped story, but were often given just a couple quirky characteristics or wry remarks to represent them.

I was torn about the idealization (the nearly-perfect support system etc - ie. making a point of how people should support women? resulting in obscuring how hard it more likely is for folks? leaves the reader that if the survivor keeps her chin up everything she'll keep her hold on the American Dream?) but in the end found it unsatisfying. Remember when Levithan's Boy Meets Boy came out? It totally worked for me that we were looking at how life *could* be rather than realism. But I think the characters helped carry that story (plus it was a giddier kind of fairy tale); whereas here, despite my rooting for all the strong girls, I still felt like I was reading an outline with an agenda, not a fully alive story. ...more

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May 04, 2016 Mary rated it it was amazing

A book every teen girl should read about rape. The main character Hermione ( her parents are Harry Potter fans) is a realistic and strong character who will relate to teen readers. I really wish this story was what really happens in real life with great doctors, police investigators, sympathetic parents, caring coaches and good friends. Too often this is not the case for victims of rape. I also thought the back story of cheer leaders offered a strong spine to the story. Hermione was not the dumb ...more

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Sep 28, 2015 Jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

Excellent. I need to think over the connections to A Winter's Tale - it's been a long time since I read the play. Even without those thematic ties, it was still a great read. ...more

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Apr 03, 2016 Tiff rated it it was amazing

Shelves: tiffs-favorites, young-adult, cover-love

It's amazing how a book on this topic can be so empowering...and I really, really hope there are more books like this in the future, so I won't have to be amazed. ...more

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