Shattering Glass

This book is a masterpiece of pacing, so much so that I'm going to use it to demonstrate pacing to my students. In most YA novels pacing is done by a series of mini cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. In this book, the pacing and interest is attained by quotes from the future by minor and

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major characters at the beginning of each chapter. The quotes are true to the character but don't reveal the whole story. We know we're moving towards an incident, but we're not really sure exactly what the incident is. As the novel goes on, the quotes reveal more and more.

I wouldn't say the book is 100% successful, I don't really buy one character's actions at the end, and that's a fault in character development. But overall, well worth reading.

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The characters in this book seem all too real, and the sadnes at the end still haunts me days after finishing. Is a person who does nothing to stop a crime as guilty as the one who strikes the blows?

In many ways this is the classic story of the popular kids bullying the geeks, but Simon Glass puts his own spin on his situation. It's not too long before the hunted becomes the hunter and then this book turns on a dime. Gripping and horrific, this story doesn't end until the end.

Everyone hated Simon Glass. He was a textbook geek. His hair was greasy, he wore glasses, and his underwear always showed over the top of his too short pants. Get this, he even had a pocket protector. He was a walking joke. Until Rob came along. Rob is the coolest guy in school, not cause he tries,

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he just is. Well, he took Simon under his wing and that's when everything changed. Rob taught him how to walk, talk and dress popular. Rob worked on him so hard, everyone began to believe he was popular. But Simon wasn't content to be Rob's little project, he had a mind of his own. Like I said, everyone hated Simon Glass, even Rob. They just didn't know it until the day they killed him.

One of my favorite Gail Giles books. Leaves the reader guessing even after the last page!

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Overall, I thought this was a weird story. It did have its good points as far as literary style, but the content itself was lacking for me. I had a hard time getting past all the vulgarity and sexual connotations. I thought it was rather excessive. The author portrayed the characters well and they

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were developed throughout the book. The plot line, however, moved very slowly in my opinion. The author used a technique of having the various characters look back and make comments on the events of the book at the beginning of each chapter. After a few of them, I was able to figure out what would happen and they kind of ruined the mystery and suspense for me. Allow, I kept hoping I was wrong about the outcome. If I did not have to read this book for this class, I probably would have stopped reading it.

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In many ways this is the classic story of the popular kids bullying the geeks, but Simon Glass puts his own spin on his situation. It's not too long before the hunted becomes the hunter and then this book turns on a dime. Gripping and horrific, this story doesn't end until the end.

When Rob takes on the class "nerd" as a project his friends just follow along as they always have. Locked in their roles, no one is prepared for Simon Glass to take matters into his own hands, and the end result is an explosion of violence. As always Gail Giles has an ending that leaves something

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to talk about.

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A group of boys decide to make a nerdy classmate popular, but end up losing control of the situation and their lives. The main group of boys are all very diverse, and therefore it is easy to associate with at least one or two of them. The style and plot make the story very engaging from the

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beginning. It is set in present day Texas, but could probably take place anywhere. The theme of the story is that people aren't always what you perceive them to be, trying to change people doesn't always work to your advantage, and following the crowd keeps you from being yourself and making your own decisions. There isn't much multi-dimension to the characters, as most are conveyed as white, middle to upper-middle class Americans. It is a very intriguing story, and I would include it in my collection.

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This book was unbelievable. I loved it. The reason this book is so good is because Simon Glass plays tricks not only on the characters in the story but the reader too. So you begin this story feeling sorry for Simon but by the end of it all you wish you were in that room with Rob,Cooper, and Bob

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helping them kill him!!!

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I was so impressed with this book. The style of writing, the characters, the suspense. All of it was perfect! This is the kind of teen book that resonates with all age groups for its power and conviction. A definite winner!

Reviewed by Mackenzie (Class of 2012)
Fat, clumsy Simon Glass is a nerd, a loser who occupies the lowest rung on the high school social ladder. Everyone picks on him--until Rob Haynes shows up. Rob, a transfer student with charisma to spare, immediately becomes the undisputed leader of the senior

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class. And he has plans for Simon. Rob enlists the help of his crew--wealthy, intellectual Young, ladies' man Bob, and sweet, athletic Coop--in a mission: Turn sniveling Simon from total freak to would-be prom king. But as Simon rises to the top of the social ranks, he shows a new confidence and a devious side that power-hungry Rob did not anticipate. And when Simon uncovers a dangerous secert, events darken. The result is disquieting, bone-chilling...and brutal.I absolutely loved this book. It kept you wanting to read more and not get bored. In ways you can relate to it and see things from the character's point-of-view.

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A very creepy book, but excellent. I read it a few years ago, but I think it is still very relavent to me now. It's about teen violence, and cliques, and the like.

It's not that I didn't like it...it's that I didn't love it. I would have been one of those agents or editors who passed on the project even though it was worth publishing. Perhaps the problem was that I didn't feel sympathy for any of the characters. The structure of the story was interesting, and

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the writing strong. I just would have liked to care about/like the characters more.

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This was one of those stay-up-until-late-at-night even-though-you-have-to-get-up-early-tomorrow books. The suspense, created by intense foreshadowing made this gripping and unforgetable. The terrible psychological power of the story helped too, reminding me of The Chocolate War. Topped off with a

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strangely perfect ending, I can only give this a 5 of 5.

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Would have been an A+ book if not for the absurdly cheesy, cringeworthy dialogue and narration. The narrator wants to be a writer when he graduates? Wow, shocker! However, at the ending, there is a legitimate shocker, which in and of itself is shocking. Suspenseful.

Simon Glass is the school geek, the class joke. He wears highwater pants, tucks his shirts into his Fruit of the Looms and even has a pocket protector crammmed with pens and a calculator. Rob Haynes is the opposite. He's popular, confident, attractive, magnetic. He has a way with the girls and the

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teachers. When he enters a room...all eyes on Rob. So when Rob starts inviting Simon to hang out with him and his friends, no one at B'vale school is quite sure what to make of it. That's when Rob explains to his buddies that making fun of Simon is too easy. The real challenge is to turn Simon into the most popular person in school. So the guys take Simon to the mall. Get him decent clothes, a cool haircut, start up a fitness plan. Pretty soon Simon is becoming part of the inner circle. Imagine that...people start looking to the class nerd. But Rob didn't count on Simon having a backbone. Underneath all that nerdiness ....... So when Rob sees Simon veering away from his carefully laid plan, he’s (not?) happy about it (at?) all. Looks more like the ugly duckling has become Frankenstein's monster.

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Terrible. All the characters were rude a**holes. It was an interesting premise, and had potential, but Giles just didn't make it happen for me. The ending was non-existent, and didn't really explain much. I found the interviews beginning the chapters frustrating, as although they hinted at upcoming

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events, they did not come together with the ending. Would not recommend.

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Shattering Glass was a quick, easy read that pretty much gave you the ending right on the first page. The story shows the long build-up to the tragic end, meanwhile you get little glances at what seems to happen to Young, Rob, and Bobster after the ending of the book.

The story moved fast and you

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learned more about the characters through dialogue and action rather than descriptions. I can’t say I was ever attached to any of them, though I felt the most for Coop because he really struggled with his home life and wanting to get a scholarship so that he would not end up like his father. I didn’t even feel bad for Simon despite knowing that these other boys were just making a spectacle of him. Simon’s attitude really irked me throughout the book.

I was honestly a little dissatisfied with the way the book ended because there was all this build-up and the climax lasted about half a page, then the book ended. I just felt like there would be a little more to it, but I do respect the author’s way of ending things. Again, I was just hoping for more.

So, overall, this book was pretty good and I think that over time as it comes back to me I’ll appreciate it more.

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