**Lizzie wasn't the first student at Verity High School to kill herself this year. But the difference is, she didn't go quietly.**
* * *
First it was SLUT scribbled all over the school's lockers. But one week after Lizzie Hart takes her own life, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it--in Lizzie's own looping scrawl. Photocopies of her diary show up in the hands of her classmates. And her best friend, Angie, is enraged.
Angie had stopped talking to Lizzie on prom night, when she caught Lizzie in bed with her boyfriend. Too heartbroken to let Lizzie explain the hookup or to intervene when Lizzie gets branded Queen of the Sluts and is cruelly bullied by her classmates, Angie left her best friend to the mercy of the school, with tragic results.
But with this new slur, Angie's guilt transforms into anger that someone is still targeting Lizzie even after her death. Using clues from Lizzie's diary and aided by the magnetic, mysterious Jesse, Angie begins relentlessly investigating who, exactly, made Lizzie feel life was no longer worth living. And while she might claim she simply wants to punish Lizzie's tormentors, her anguish over abandoning and then losing her best friend drives Angie deeper into the dark, twisted side of Verity High--and she might not be able to pull herself back out.
Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie's quest for the truth behind Lizzie's suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for--even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.
**
### From Booklist
On the night of their senior prom, Angie Lake discovers her boyfriend in bed with her best friend, Lizzie. When SLUT is scrawled on Lizzie’s locker and on her car, Angie remains silent, refusing to speak to the best friend who has betrayed her. But after Lizzie’s suicide, and after the words Suicide SLUT begin to appear all over Verity High, Angie decides to find out who instigated the horrible harassment that ultimately led to Lizzie’s death. First-time novelist Pitcher has packed a lot, perhaps too much, into this high-school morality tale. Rape, child abuse, homosexuality, racism, neglectful parents, and teen sexuality—not to mention the s-words themselves—abound, as well as colorful characters, such as Jesse, the faux-queer cross-dresser; Drake, the date rapist; shy, eccentric preacher’s daughter, Lizzie; and white-trash royalty, Angie herself. All play a part in this YA novel that exposes the high price that bullying extracts from today’s teens regardless of their role in the abuse or the social strata they inhabit within that high-school hierarchy. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn
### Review
"It's poignant and heartbreaking but also a page-turner, an issue book wrapped up in a mystery thriller that'll make teens (and young adults especially) think long and hard. *The S-Word *is the perfect addition to a canon of work around issues that affect LGBT teens greatly, including the film *Bully* and the It Gets Better Project. " - *The Advocate*
"Debut author Pitcher explores the consequences of bullying and social stigmatizing with swagger in this noirish mystery. When Angie's boyfriend cheats on her with her best friend Lizzie, Angie is devastated and ends their friendship—never expecting that Lizzie will be branded a slut (someone repeatedly writes the word on her car and locker) and driven to suicide. Following Lizzie's death, the graffiti reemerges; eerily, the handwriting mimics Lizzie's and reads, "suicide slut." Pages stolen from Lizzie's diary also find their way into students' lockers (and into sections of the book). Angie launches a covert investigation, and her interrogations of her suspects—including a femme fatale who reclines on pianos in the drama department when she's not running the newspaper, a misogynistic math geek, and a hard-drinking cheerleader—put a playful spin on the detective genre. When Angie is immersed in her role as sleuth, her cynicism and blasé attitude toward school can come across as phony, but the vulnerability shown when she falls for a cross-dressing outsider and her reflections on her friendship with Lizzie soften the hardboiled edges. Ages 14–up." (*Publisher's Weekly*)
Description:
**Lizzie wasn't the first student at Verity High School to kill herself this year. But the difference is, she didn't go quietly.** * * * First it was SLUT scribbled all over the school's lockers. But one week after Lizzie Hart takes her own life, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it--in Lizzie's own looping scrawl. Photocopies of her diary show up in the hands of her classmates. And her best friend, Angie, is enraged. Angie had stopped talking to Lizzie on prom night, when she caught Lizzie in bed with her boyfriend. Too heartbroken to let Lizzie explain the hookup or to intervene when Lizzie gets branded Queen of the Sluts and is cruelly bullied by her classmates, Angie left her best friend to the mercy of the school, with tragic results. But with this new slur, Angie's guilt transforms into anger that someone is still targeting Lizzie even after her death. Using clues from Lizzie's diary and aided by the magnetic, mysterious Jesse, Angie begins relentlessly investigating who, exactly, made Lizzie feel life was no longer worth living. And while she might claim she simply wants to punish Lizzie's tormentors, her anguish over abandoning and then losing her best friend drives Angie deeper into the dark, twisted side of Verity High--and she might not be able to pull herself back out. Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie's quest for the truth behind Lizzie's suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for--even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible. ** ### From Booklist On the night of their senior prom, Angie Lake discovers her boyfriend in bed with her best friend, Lizzie. When SLUT is scrawled on Lizzie’s locker and on her car, Angie remains silent, refusing to speak to the best friend who has betrayed her. But after Lizzie’s suicide, and after the words Suicide SLUT begin to appear all over Verity High, Angie decides to find out who instigated the horrible harassment that ultimately led to Lizzie’s death. First-time novelist Pitcher has packed a lot, perhaps too much, into this high-school morality tale. Rape, child abuse, homosexuality, racism, neglectful parents, and teen sexuality—not to mention the s-words themselves—abound, as well as colorful characters, such as Jesse, the faux-queer cross-dresser; Drake, the date rapist; shy, eccentric preacher’s daughter, Lizzie; and white-trash royalty, Angie herself. All play a part in this YA novel that exposes the high price that bullying extracts from today’s teens regardless of their role in the abuse or the social strata they inhabit within that high-school hierarchy. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn ### Review "It's poignant and heartbreaking but also a page-turner, an issue book wrapped up in a mystery thriller that'll make teens (and young adults especially) think long and hard. *The S-Word *is the perfect addition to a canon of work around issues that affect LGBT teens greatly, including the film *Bully* and the It Gets Better Project. " - *The Advocate* "Debut author Pitcher explores the consequences of bullying and social stigmatizing with swagger in this noirish mystery. When Angie's boyfriend cheats on her with her best friend Lizzie, Angie is devastated and ends their friendship—never expecting that Lizzie will be branded a slut (someone repeatedly writes the word on her car and locker) and driven to suicide. Following Lizzie's death, the graffiti reemerges; eerily, the handwriting mimics Lizzie's and reads, "suicide slut." Pages stolen from Lizzie's diary also find their way into students' lockers (and into sections of the book). Angie launches a covert investigation, and her interrogations of her suspects—including a femme fatale who reclines on pianos in the drama department when she's not running the newspaper, a misogynistic math geek, and a hard-drinking cheerleader—put a playful spin on the detective genre. When Angie is immersed in her role as sleuth, her cynicism and blasé attitude toward school can come across as phony, but the vulnerability shown when she falls for a cross-dressing outsider and her reflections on her friendship with Lizzie soften the hardboiled edges. Ages 14–up." (*Publisher's Weekly*)