Exit, Pursued by a Bear

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Call Number: Teen Book / Fiction / Social Issues / Johnston, E. K.
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Malletts Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Social Issues / Johnston, E. K.	4-week checkout	On Shelf

At cheerleading camp, Hermione is drugged and raped, but she is not sure whether it was one of her teammates or a boy on another team--and in the aftermath she has to deal with the rumors in her small Ontario town, the often awkward reaction of her classmates, the rejection of her boyfriend, the discovery that her best friend, Polly, is gay, and above all the need to remember what happened so that the guilty boy can be brought to justice.

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Powerful submitted by Avliss on August 3, 2017, 1:24pm Like a majority of young Americans I'm sure, I was required to read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson in high school. I was lucky enough to have a teacher that treated the book as an avenue not only for learning traditional English subjects, but also for a frank discussion of sexual assault and the nature of consent. It was the first time anyone aside from my mother had talked about it, beyond the standard "don't do this, this, or this, and you won't get raped", and I found the talk incredibly powerful, to the point that I still refer back to it (and Speak) when discussing sexual assault.

Now, why would I spend so much time talking about this other book? Because when I read "Exit, Pursued by a Bear", it echoed that discussion back to me. Like Anderson's protagonist, Hermione Winters is a "good girl" who is taken advantage of at a party gone wrong. However, Hermione's experience in the aftermath is drastically different, mainly because she has a frankly amazing support system (her best friend, her parents, police and hospital staff, etc.). Not everything goes right of course - Hermione still has to deal with people at school, medical issues resulting from the assault, and of course the trauma. But with the help of a extensive network, she gets through it.

Like Speak, I believe this book would be excellent for starting discussions about sexual assault, particularly with how we as a society can help survivors.

Very good submitted by zmclaugh on August 1, 2018, 5:25pm Deals with heavy material very well and shows how people can be supportive.