Shattering Glass Paperback – January 1, 2003

As a high school teacher, I read YA books so that I have titles to recommend to my students. I read this book because it seemed like a good recommendation for male high school students, who are often the most reluctant readers. I am definitely adding this book to my list of recommendations for them.Negatives first: This is a YA book, so it didn't have all the twists and turns of a fully-developed adult novel. It took me a while to "get" the main character. At first the protagonist's voice sounded generic. It wasn't until I learned a about his troubled past that he became more than just a stereotype. Still, I teach high school, and I could see lots of my students enjoying this book. The plot was not cliche--there were too many twists for that, but it was easy enough to follow.Now, the positives: It was a compelling read. What I enjoyed most the structure of the novel. Each chapter begins with a quote from various minor characters in the novel. These quotes allude to the novel's ending. At first the quotes don't make much sense. As the story progresses, however, the reader begins to put the quotes together, and the story just gets darker and darker, compelling the reader to turn the next page. Because of this extensive foreshadowing, the novel takes on a dark aura, and the denouement has already been provided by the time we get to the last scene--I found this effective . The chapters are short, and each opening quote gives readers just enough clues to convince them to keep reading. I finished the book in two sittings. I will definitely recommend the book to my high school students.

I found myself a little annoyed while reading SHATTERING GLASS.. I had higher hopes for this book, then that which was the reality of it. The concept it self, not exactly original.. cool kids make over the geek to the height of popularity. It was unique in that Giles has the cool guys making over anther guy. Usually we see the loser being made over by the opposite sex. This twist is what had peeked my interest in the first place.The writing is easy to read, the story being clear and pretty straight forward to follow and the characters are all well developed.. so far so good, right? Therein lies the rub and the major flaw that had me so annoyed while reading this book. Our narrator Young Steward, who was believable in character as a whole; a well off, nice looking, cool, popular, and an all around good guy, not to mention really smart.. oh wait except he didn't see the real Simon Glass coming. All the signs of what was going on with Glass were there throughout the story, Young even says several times that something was off, but he was never able to figure it out. He doesn't even try. I don't know, it just wasn't believable to me. Giles wrote Young too intelligent not to get it.. add in that he couldn't stand the guy, the motivation was there for him to work it out. Instead he hands over everything he cares about to Glass in order to hold on to the approval of the mysterious Rob, mr. popular and the controlling leader of their crew... weak. If Young had figure it out and tried to warn Rob and the other guys and they just didn't believe him... the story would have worked better for me. It was all just a bit too convenient for me and the stuff that went down with Ronna, that was just way over the top and completely preposterous.Although Gail Giles didn't completely win me over with SHATTERING GLASS, it was a decent read and with strong pacing. I thought the little snip-its of interviews at the beginning of each chapter, giving the reader a little foreshadowing of how things play out, was a nice touch.. although the ending it's self felt a bit unfinished.

"Shattering Glass" is a powerful examination of what it takes to become popular, and what happens when the power structure of a society/school is dramatically shifted.The narrator's best friend decides to give the school "loser" a makeover in order for him to become popular and eventually be voted Class Favorite for the seniors. His three pals warm to the task, but the narrator is repelled by the outcast, especially after he senses that the boy is more manipulative and rebellious than he lets on. The boy also has an uncanny ability to ferret out secrets and weaknesses that others would prefer to keep hidden. When he uses this power against this group of friends, tragedy ensures, in a very Y2K way.Unlike one reviewer, I did not find the profanity gratuitous but used for effect in very specific scenes. However, I did feel the author at times was trying to hard to be colorful, coining the kinds of phrases that are used in movies like "Clueless" but not (often) by real life teens.

I ordered this book because I read it as a teenager and fell in love! It's not super easy to find so to say I was excited to stumble upon it on here is an understatement. Shattering Glass is an absolute page-turner from start to finish. It's horrifying, intriguing and I can never put it down without reading it all in one go. I'm ridiculously excited to read it again and I'm well past my teens.

This is truly a great piece of adolescent literature about a group of high school boys who foolishly follow their conspicuous leader, Rob, as he carries out what seems to be a typical "geek to glamour" plot on a young boy named Simon Glass. Being an adolescent novel, this book is a quick read, and the vocabulary isn't difficult, however not over-simplistic either. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a semi-grim, mysterious thriller surrounding a very ordinary, and yet extraordinary, group of teenage boys in the mists of the high school environment. Even if you're looking for something else, just give it a shot and you might be surprised!

Easy read but disturbing and exciting and thoughtful.

I love this book. Must read

Estuvo bien, la pasta es extra blanda.

11 year old daughter loved this

"Shattering Glass" ist ein sehr kurzer Thriller, an einer US-amerikanischen High School angesiedelt, in dem es um bedingungslose Folgsamkeit, destruktive Freundschaft und Kontrollverlust geht: Der Anführer (Rob) einer Clique von Jungs (Young, Bob, Coop) möchte das Schulopfer (Simon Glass) zum beliebtesten Jungen des Jahrgangs machen. Dies gelingt bis zu einem gewissen Grad, gerät dann aber für Rob außer Kontrolle, denn Simon unterwirft sich seinem Kommando nicht so wie die anderen Jungs.Die Handlung wird aus der Sicht von Young, intelligentes und wohlhabendes Mitglied dieser Clique, erzählt. Er idealisiert Rob bis zum Dorthinaus und tut alles für ihn. Ergänzt wird diese Perspektive durch kurze Einblenden am Kapitelanfang, immer von unterschiedlichen Personen und fünf Jahre später, die darauf hindeuten, was am Ende des Buches für ein Unglück geschieht.Prinzipiell fand ich das Buch spannend, mir gefallen die moralischen Dilemmata, die dabei aufgeworfen werden.Aber ich war ein bisschen von dem Auftauchen des obligatorischen Psychopathen genervt und hätte mir gewünscht, dass Robs Hintergrundgeschichte ein bisschen ausführlicher behandelt und nicht auf den letzten Seiten in zwei Zeilen dahingeklatscht wird. Auch hätte ich mir gewünscht, dass die Andeutungen ein bisschen deutlicher werden - es wird nicht klargestellt, weswegen Young und Bob genau verurteilt werden, was genau mit Simon und Coop passiert ist. Das Ende bzw. der dramatische Höhepunkt ist mir einfach etwas zu kurz.Fazit: 30 Seiten mehr hätten dem Buch nicht schlecht getan.