Challenge Corner discussion

Your best friend hates you. The guy you liked hates you. Your entire group of friends hates you.

All because you did the right thing.

Welcome to life for Mena, whose year is starting off in the worst way possible. She's been kicked out of her church group and no one will talk to her—not even her own parents. No one except for Casey, her supersmart lab partner in science class, who's pretty funny for the most brilliant guy on earth.

And when Ms. Shepherd begins the unit on evolution, school becomes more dramatic than Mena could ever imagine . . . and her own life is about to evolve in some amazing and unexpected ways

Reading now

ch 9 (view spoiler)[ I do have sympathy for Mena, she tried to do the right thing and now is getting bullied at school and her parents aren't speaking to her either (which is bullshit)
But, Mena needs to stand up for herself. She just sat there while Theresa said all those mean things and hurt her. I don't like that, she needs to at least try. (hide spoiler)]

ch 15 (view spoiler)[ I love that Ms. Shepard was ready for those idiots and isn't letting them get to her. Mena can definitely learn something from her. (hide spoiler)]

ch 26 (view spoiler)[ I like Casey's sister, she's fun and bold. Mena really needs these strong female role models, so I hope it helps her stand up for herself. The kids who turned around in class are idiots ugh.

I really hope the school board doesn't make the teacher talk about Creation (hide spoiler)]

ch 39 (view spoiler)[ I'm so glad Mena is doing the bible girl posts. She's taking everything directly from the bible and showing how people can interpret the book however they want.

It's really sad that Denny was bullied to the point of attempted suicide and I'm glad Mena wrote him that letter. Those kids are awful and deserve to be sued.

Her parents make me angry and all they're doing is pushing her to rebel. So close minded (hide spoiler)]

finished (view spoiler)[ I'm glad that her parents left the church, that preacher guy pretty much said Mena should kill herself. That's horrible and he should definitely be fired.

I do wish Mena had told her parents how awful she felt at home, but I guess she did stand up for herself somewhat. And she still gets to go to church and hopefully hang out with Casey. (hide spoiler)]
This was okay overall, I liked the strong women.

25% (view spoiler)[Not sure where this is going so far but I kind of like it. I really want to know what Mena did or what the church did to Denny, and who he is. I come from a very tolerant part of the country and before going to college I would have never seen this situation as realistic, but now I can see this a lot more clearly. (hide spoiler)]

Celia wrote: "25% [spoilers removed]"
Yeah (view spoiler)[ it's crazy that people can be so hateful. The mystery about Denny is interesting (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "Celia wrote: "25% [spoilers removed]"
Yeah [spoilers removed]"

I kind of figured it out once they started really protesting evolution, that it would have something to do with LGBTQ. Still really interesting how it played out though.

Thoughts while reading, because I finished this during work:
50% (view spoiler)[At this point in the novel, when we were first introduced to Kayla, I was really happy. Kayla's the kind of person who you just need in your life, no questions asked. (hide spoiler)]

75% (view spoiler)[Okay, at this point I honestly thought the novel might end with Mena keeping all her lies, which would be a terrible way to end this after everything. Mena seemed happy and like she actually would get away with what she was doing at that time.

I don't know where she got the impression that Casey wasn't into her, though. That was pretty obvious. (hide spoiler)]

100% (view spoiler)[I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. I think it is a great middle grade and high school read, and it definitely exposes kids to a lot of different perspectives. (hide spoiler)]

I totally agree! (view spoiler)[ the balance of religion and science was well done and I'm glad Mena felt good about herself at the end. (hide spoiler)] This was an interesting read for sure