Backlash
Backlash is amazing. Littman is an excellent author with a talent for writing from multiple perspectives while still maintaining a focused plot. The bullying is horrible and surprising (you'll see why). Littman delicately handles the issue of bullying, showing the truth of its ugly face and how responsibility comes with it. It's hard to say much more without giving things away, but I can say that I enjoyed the characters; they were well developed and all of them play an important role in Lara's situation. I also appreciate seeing the character growth. As a bonus, we have Sydney, Lara's younger sister--everyone needs a friend like Sydney. The one fault I found was Liam's perspective: his POV sounded like Lara's sister; I couldn't tell it was a boy, so a more clear distinction in voice would be helpful. But the novel more than makes up for that small flaw by not downplaying this serious issue and threading the actions through a moral code.
