Atkins, Catherine. Alt ed.

Penguin Putnam. 199p. c2003. 0-399-23854-9. $17.99. JS

A small group of troubled high school students, threatened with expulsion, are given the alternative of attending an after-school group therapy class: this is their alt ed. The narrator is Susan, the daughter of the school athletic director and football coach--a decent man, but one who is unable to express his feelings. This is a terrible problem because the family is grieving the death of the mother, and Susan and her brother feel lost and alone. To add to Susan's problems, she is fat and hides behind baggy clothes; she is frequently the victim of taunting and other abuse. She has no friends and is a kind of non-person. This book is about how Susan finds her own voice.

She develops a friendship with another person in the group--another victim of terrible bullying--Brendan is gay. Another member of the group is a hateful fellow, impulsive, one of the worst of the bullies, actually. Another person in the group is a born-a Christian, popular, a good student. (It's interesting to discover at long last why she is in danger of expulsion.) There are two more in the group: a fierce young woman, prone to fights; and a likeable athlete who knows he should be a better person than people think he is. All agree at the end of the experience that the group class is the best education they have gotten at the high school--learning from one another. Susan makes small steps toward connecting with her father, standing up for herself, taking care of her body and her appearance. Some of the most searing passages concern the homophobia so powerful in the school. This will satisfy YAs who yearn to understand the dynamics of relationships, especially difficult relationships, and to see beyond the surface to the real person.