Book Review

Josie Crackenberger
March 4, 2009
Book Review

In Twisted, Laurie Halse Anderson presents readers with Tyler Miller, whose transformation from meek, social Mr. Cellophane to a chiseled, admired "tough guy" sets his world on end. As someone who spends his days unnoticed, Tyler finds himself with more attention than he wanted after he vandalizes school property and, to pay for his crime, takes a summer job doing landscaping. The unforeseen side effect is that he returns the next school year with a brand new bod that's turning heads, most notably the head of Bethany Milbury. But not everything, even Bethany's advances, works out well for Tyler. As he struggles to contend with his angry father, a mistrustful faculty and the aftermath of a drunken party, Tyler comes to the painful realization that there's a substantial price tag for his newfound popularity, and juggling the consequences lead him to thoughts of suicide.
A popular theme that resides within the book is suicide. All of Tyler’s choices: vandalism, falling for Bethany, letting his sister date his best friend, and letting his father control him all leads him to the thought of suicide. Everything seems to go wrong in his life at once and all he can feel is twisted. The theme is strongly based on suicide making this a novel for mature 8th graders and up, although staying the young adult range.
I think it is a great novel, but has a terrible ending. Some may think this is the best possible ending for the book. The book teaches that just because you’re a “nerd” doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person, and when you come into the limelight doesn’t mean you’ll be loved by everyone. Always stay true to yourself and everything else will fall into place. It also has that just because you’ve made mistakes in your past you can still become a better person and overcome those mistakes later in life. It is a good lesson book for teenagers and I highly recommend it to that age group. It’s a drama book, but has some funny parts. Overall I give this book an 9/10 because of the ending.