Hate You

This was a very sad yet touching book in my opinion. Alice was abused and her voice was permanently affected by it but tries to find hope. I think it's inspiring that Alice picks up and tries to move forward with her life. I wouldn't recommend this book to younger children because it's kind of sad. The author has a way of making you forget everything and really indulging you into this story.

Alice, a high school student, holds onto the hate that she feels towards her abusive father. Circumstances make her address her hate straight on.

This book was chosen for the Canadian Challenge due to my enjoyment of Acceleration by the same author. Unfortunately, the message that I think was trying to be conveyed was not clearly executed in the plot. I did like the characters, but they were trapped in that plot and it wasn't working for me. It may work for teens though! (2/5)

Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."

Alice was injured by her father several years ago, leaving her voice damaged. After this incident, her father vanished from her life. Now a teenager, she confronts her father. There was no closure in this situation though. Alice befriends Rachel, her boyfriend's cousin, at his request. This relationship seems to be an afterthought as we don't see much of Rachel once she has given Alice help with a tough situation.

Megan Reed
EDCI 4120
6/20/08

McNamee, G. (1999). Hate you. New York: Random House.

Grade Levels 8-12
Category Realistic Fiction
Read Alouds pp. 15-19(She talks about the girl that is going to sing her songs); pp. 94-101(Second visit to see her dad); pp. 1,2,110,111(Some of her songs).
Summary Alice is in high school she writes dark songs. They are really good but she can’t sing them. Not because she is scared but because she has a terrible voice. Her voice is so bad because when she was younger her and her father were fighting and he started strangling her. Her dad leaves and she is left to deal with her harsh voice when all she wants is to be able to get her songs heard. Years later after her father leaves she finds out that he is dying show more from cancer. She goes and visits her dad she doesn’t say anything to his so he doesn’t know that he did damage to her voice chords. The next time she goes back her father hears her voice and realizes he did damage to her when she was younger. He ends up dying but she finally received closure to what had happened to her when she was little.
Discussion Questions Do think Alice forgave her father for the domestic abuse? In what ways did the strangling effect her personal relationships with other people? How did Alice’s father leaving effect her relationship with her mother?
Reader Response I liked the book but it didn’t seem like it had much of a purpose. I also thought it was strange that a man wrote this book because it talked about really personal stuff like the female cycle. The book was really about being a girl in general and yet a man wrote it. I believe that men can write about it but it was strange that he got so much of it very accurate. show less