Testimony
Anita Shreve
**** stars
One tape…Several drinks…A few hours…Three boys’ lives forever changed. Three boys have to face the guilt and punishment of committing statutory rape. When a scandal breaks out at Avery Academy, a prestigious high school, several peoples’ lives are changed forever. Should high school seniors face criminal charges and be expelled for having sex with a fourteen year old? Is eighteen truly the age to be called an adult? There are so many moral issues packed into the novel Testimony.
At this point I’m not sure what to believe in. Before I read this novel I looked down upon those eighteen and over who have sex with those who are younger. When I think of “statutory rape” I think of cases where a sixth grade student has sex with a forty year-old teacher. I think of a fifteen year-old having a twenty five year-old boyfriend. These cases are serious and should be handled as criminal.
But what about two eighteen year-olds and a nineteen year-old with a “willing” fourteen year-old? In Vermont, the law says that these boys should be charged with sexual assault. I really don’t believe that what happened in Testimony should be classified as sexual assault.
The only way you’ll be able to know what you think is if you read Testimony. This was a great novel that was very well written. Read it today!
4 comments:
Nice job on the review, Johanna. I'm looking forward to book club.
So am I! There is so much conversation attached.
Although the subject matter is mature, it needs to be discussed. All students in high school are NOT on the same level and students who go to school shouldn't necessarily socialize with one another. Teen drinking can lead to some very serious mistakes -- and this is a story about how that can happen. Alcohol impairs judgment and sense.
There is a reason that the drinking age is 21 and older. This book really looks into the several different consequences.
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