Please Ignore Vera Dietz

What a wonderful find! This is a very thought provoking book dealing with many subjects including bullying, friendship, betrayal, death, physical abuse, and grappling with honesty and doing the right thing.

Vera Dietz is haunted by the mother who abandoned her, leaving her father to raise her. A stripper who ran away when Vera was a young child, Vera fears that she too will become like her mother. Her best friend Charlie fears he will become his father and will physically and emotionally abuse women. Struggling with identity issues, their relationship is longstanding and strong, until Charlie leaves Vera behind to run with the wrong crowd, Vera is sadder than sad. When Charlie betrays Vera because he needs so desperately to fit in, Vera cannot forgive.

Charlie's choices cost his life and now his ghost haunts Vera to come forward to clear his name. Charlie's new friends border of sociopathic and his new girl friends is crazy and controlling.

Acting out in violent ways, the girlfriend burns down the local pet shop, leaving the puppies to die. When Charlie tries to get out of the relationship, he pays a very high price, and after his death he is blamed for the fire.

While the subject matter is difficult, this is indeed worth the read. The psychology of abandonment, the need to fit in, the repercussions of bad choices are handled very deftly in this book.

Longing to fly under the radar, Vera knows she must stand tall and tell authorities what she knows.

The author does a wonderful job of portraying Vera's relationship with her father and his struggles.

Highly recommended!!!!!

It is sad and it is funny. It is quirky and it is serious. It is redemptive and profoundly touching. ( )

This story of Vera's and Charlie's friendship, their slow separate spirals toward destruction, and the way that Vera rebuilds, is mesmerizing. High schoolers will eat this up. ( )

AS King does a fantastic job of taking the reader along a journey of teen awakening and brings the characters to life. ( )

King's non-linear, almost jumpy storyline worked exceptionally well with Vera's story. I liked it very much, and I liked Vera. Her issues were very believable and her coping mechanisms seemed familiar. I thought she really grew over the course of the novel, and though there was a bit of cheese in the resolution, it worked.

Strong characters (even the pagoda!) and an interesting tale. Recommended. ( )

Really liked this. I found the characters compelling and the structure of the novel unique and fresh. King does a lot of things that could be considered awkward but she makes the shifting perspectives, the asides from a pagoda and light touches of magical realism work. ( )