What Happens Next

September 10, 2012
Sixteen-year-old Sid Murphy has always been self-conscious about her weight and figure, so when a handsome older guy flirts with her during a weekend school ski trip, a smitten Sid sneaks out to meet him at a party. But there is no party: the man drugs and rapes Sid, leaving her unable to remember the exact details of what happened or tell anyone about it. Sid tries to move on, but she develops insomnia and an eating disorder, and she loses her two closest friends as well as her spot on the cheerleading squad in the aftermath. Debut author Clayton doesn’t simplify Sid or her emotions, showing the deep scars left by the rape, her understandable yet self-destructive reactions, and her growing joy at her unexpected relationship with Corey, “the biggest stoner at Lakewood High,” who has secrets of his own. Clayton throws perhaps a few too many obstacles at Sid (on top of everything else, she’s being bullied by a popular cheerleader), but readers should still find this story painfully realistic yet hopeful. Ages 15–up. Agent: Alyssa Reuben, Paradigm. (Oct.)■

Starred review from September 15, 2012
When 16-year-old Cassidy "Sid" Murphy decides to join her two best friends on a class ski trip, she has no idea that the trip will change her life forever. A chance meeting with a local college boy leads to a night Sid can barely remember, but will certainly never forget, sending her on a downward spiral so severe she becomes quite literally a shadow of her former self. Sid's unable to put into words the truth of what happened that night, leaving her friends and classmates to draw their own conclusions while Sid struggles to pick up the broken pieces and cobble them back together on her own. Little does she know that by opting to forego her normal course load and hide out in the AV room, she's made another life-altering decision. This time, however, it is thankfully for the better. Enter Corey Livingston, "the half-baked, pothead, ex-juvie thug" who might just hold the answers. Equal parts endearing spunk and heartbreaking vulnerability, Sid Murphy is a character who feels more like family by story's end. The story--and even more importantly, Sid herself--will stay with readers long after the final page is turned. Kudos to Clayton for crafting a powerful, moving debut. (Fiction. 13 & up)

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October 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-In this debut novel, Cassidy is trying to cope with the aftermath of a date rape. A model student and cheerleader, Sid feels gawky with her unruly red hair and large body next to her petite friends. On a school ski trip, she meets an older guy who makes her feel beautiful and, despite her friends' warnings, she goes to meet him at a party. Turns out it's just the two of them, and Sid wakes up the next morning with no memory of the evening. Missing curfew on the school trip causes serious punishments, and her friends withdraw from her. With no one to talk to, Sid starts running every night to try and bury the pain of something-she's not even sure what. She can't eat, and when she does, the "Urge" causes her to purge everything from her stomach. She likes how her body is shaping up, but then she can't stop purging. In a study hall, she meets Corey, a boy with a reputation as a stoner and juvenile delinquent, but she discovers that there's more to him than his reputation. When a chance event brings the whole incident from the ski trip out in the open, Sid finds Corey, her mother, and her friends to be the support system she needed in the first place, and she is able to take the first steps toward healing her mind and body. The story is a realistic account of what goes on in the mind of a teen with an eating disorder. The date rape is handled well; it's not graphic but Clayton includes enough details to show the resulting damage to the victim. Girls will see themselves or someone they know in this thought-provoking story as it gets passed from friend to friend.-Diana Pierce, Leander High School, TX

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2012
Grades 9-12 It all starts innocently enough: Cassidy Sid Murphy and her two best friends head off on a much-anticipated school ski trip. But when Sid meets handsome, older Dax Windsor while waiting in line for the ski lift, she can't believe he'd be interested in a girl with crazed red hair and a bubble butt. She sneaks off to his place the following night and wakes up the next morning with no memory of what happened and her sweater on inside out. Instead of telling her friends and mom about the date rape, she spins lies and literally runs from the truthsometimes up to six hours a day. When she meets Corey Livingston, a so-called druggie, Sid learns to see beyond his reputation, and, as they fall for each other, he lovingly pushes her into some tough conversations. While Clayton's debut perhaps tackles a few too many issues (including Sid's eating disorder), the final chapterswhich focus on Corey and Sid's authentically realized relationshipwill move readers, as Sid starts to reclaim her sexuality and begin the painful process toward healing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
On a school-sponsored ski trip, sixteen-year-old Sid wakes up with evidence that she was raped; she keeps it a secret, her friends slip away, and she begins a starvation diet. A tentative romance with outcast Corey helps Sid to regain a sense of agency. Clayton reveals a true struggle between hope and despair, and Sid is a strong-voiced, sympathetic narrator.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2012
While on a school-sponsored ski trip, Sid Murphy -- a feisty but usually levelheaded sixteen-year-old -- sneaks out after curfew to pursue a cute college guy she met on the slopes. Sid wakes the next morning in an unfamiliar cabin, with only blurry memories of the previous night's encounter and undeniable evidence that she had been drugged and raped. Ashamed and confused, Sid keeps the rape a secret; she allows her best friends to slip away and embarks on a starvation diet and grueling all-night runs she hopes will eliminate the curves that attracted her attacker. Sid does regain her friendships, admit to the trauma, and acknowledge her blamelessness, but her success is difficult to gauge as her eating disorder spirals out of control. A tentative romance with Corey, a similarly misunderstood outcast, helps Sid to regain a sense of agency over her life and her sexuality, but at times the love story overpowers the recovery narrative. However, layering first love over trauma reveals a true struggle between moments of hope and despair that feels realistic for a young survivor, and Sid is a strong-voiced, sympathetic narrator who is easy to root for. jessica tackett

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)