Inexcusable - Chris Lynch

One word, WOW.
This book is great, totally captivating and exciting and at the same time it's very real and terrifying. It is about a senior in high school named Keir and his story of an accusation of rape made against him. The girl he's accused of raping, he is basically in love with. He gives some details about his feelings in the moments they are felt which is a very real setup, but he never goes all into depth about how he feels. It is my honest opinion that this boy is slightly crazy, and it begins to show throughout the text. His mother died when he was young and he has grown up with just his father and two older sisters who are now in college. His character is built off tragedy it seems, and it begins to reveal the way others see him, rather than how he sees himself as the story reaches this end. The timeline and plot are really great, like I said, they are incredibly captivating!
I really enjoyed this book, I could not put it down. The characters were so real and believable and the story the narrator (Keir) was telling was very angled and exciting.
High school students will relate inevitably to this book. I'm an on the fence about whether or not it is appropriate material to teach because of it's intensity in some of the content and some of the situations. However, there are some incredible examples of writing elements in this book such as plot, time-line, voice, point of view, characterization, and foreshadowing. It's a really great example of how a strong combination of literary elements really make for an excellent story. Many students would find this book easy to read, easy to connect with, and very realistic. The appropriateness would be in question, but they would definitely get a lot out of reading this, even as a free read, or using excerpts in the classroom. The male perspective that the story is told in is also an intriguing attribute that would help male students get into reading very easily. It puts a different twist on a very real situation, and I really appreciated this piece of writing.
Read it!