Meeting a cute guy, blowing him off and the anger she focuses on everyone lets the reader know that before all is said and done Audrey’s life will definitely take a downward spiral along with so many others. The following day was not any different than the day before.

Parents that were stressed, money that was tight and arguments that ran high as one day blended into the next. Low expectations is what others had for her and she did nothing at the present to change their perceptions or even her own. Sad, what teens have to endure but what happens next is tragic as a secret is revealed, lives are changed and Audrey’s world will be shattered, changed and destroyed with one simple word. Some friends remaining and others lost because of the breakup. Taking the impromptu test Audrey flashes back to Desmond, her ex-boyfriend and the impact it has had on her many friendships. Life presents many challenges and it is up to you to decide how to handle them.

Goldman, the guidance counselor’s forms that need to be turned in or the gym teachers 50 question quiz that no one expected. You don’t want to miss a word of this one.Īs Audrey walks through the double doors of her High School her mind is focused on other things and not on Mrs. Like a pyramid formed by 25 kids and you are the one at the top and fall the hardest when the pyramid comes down and the base gives way. But, Audrey will learn before all is said and done that some paths are so worn that you need to start your own in order to work your way back up to who you really are. When Audrey’s boyfriend decides to find another girlfriend rather than chalk it up to no big deal, or his loss, she reverts into herself, forgets who she really is and hopes to be able to walk that path already beaten and trodden and get the same guy back. Teenage boys and girls fall prey to social acceptance and peer pressures. Audrey seems to be in her own form of doldrums and why? She has disregarded her appearance, lost weight, anti-social, feeling ostracized and definitely not focused on anything dealing with that E word Education. Black, white, fat, thin, old, young, straight or gay why are we often differentiated by our outer appearances, personal preferences or social choices? Audrey Saldano is about to learn many lessons in life. Labels are not supposed to be placed on people but they are. Labels belong on cans, cigarette packages, medicine bottles to warn us of the dangers and side effects before taking a specific drug, liquor bottles to enlighten consumers as to the ingredients they are about to imbibed and boxes of foods informing us of the number of calories, fats, trans fats and sugars in the cereal you might want to eat for breakfast.

Hag by Rachel Rueben