HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown

Jennifer Brown is the author of HATE LIST, a YA novel coming out in September 2009. As a two-time winner of The Erma Bombeck Global Humor award and weekly columnist for The Kansas City Star, as well as Saturday Featured Blogger for Mom2MomKC.com, Jennifer spends a lot of time dressing up her dog for laughs and thinking of new ways to works words such as "Puh-lease" and "Ch-yeah!" into sentences. Jennifer grew up in the Kansas City, Missouri area, where she still lives with her husband, three kids, and whole herd of uncooperative pets.

Instead of an interview with Jennifer, I'm posting a letter from Jessica (main character in Hate List) to my teen advice column for the daring.

Dear Eva,
There's this girl, Valerie, at my school. We've always been enemies, but... well, something really awful happened at our school... and she sort of saved my life that day.

The problem is, I never liked Valerie before. We never got along. And now I kind of owe her. Plus, I have a feeling she's not as bad as everyone thinks she is. I've changed a lot since that day, and I think maybe she has, too.

Everyone pretty much hates Valerie now, and she knows it. She hangs around like a ghost at school, all by herself, never talking to anyone. I can tell she's really lonely and sad.

I think maybe we could be friends, if she'd just let me in. I'm trying to get through to her, but I'm having a really hard time getting her to trust me. How do I get her to see that I'm not out to hurt her? Should I just leave her alone?

Jessica

Dear Jessica,
Trust is a hard thing to give. I know because I totally didn’t trust my sister, Roz, until recently. She didn’t deserve it. She chased after every boy I ever broke up with. Plus she had/has a serious blabbing problem.

It sounds like Valerie could use a friend right now. Sometimes the best way to earn someone’s trust is to show that you’ve changed. That’s what Roz did. Actions speak louder than a whole bunch of hot air, if you know what I mean :D.

There are risks of reaching out to her, of course. Fwooosh! Yes, that’s the sound of your rep going down the toilet. But you said you owed her. The course of true friendship never did run smooth. *

Best of luck!

Eva

*Apologies to Shakespeare (who's dead yanno)

About Hate List
Five months ago, Valerie Leftman’s boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saves the life of a classmate, but is implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things they hated. The list her boyfriend used to pick his targets.

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

Find out more about Jennifer and Hate List at her website: http://www.jenniferbrownYA.com

Or buy her book:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hate-List-Jennifer-Brown/dp/0316041440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251761088&sr=1-1

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316041447