Review: Polarity in Motion by Brenda Vicars

Title: Polarity in Motion
Author: Brenda Vicars
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Release Date: October 6, 2014

Fifteen-year-old Polarity Weeks just wants to live a normal life, but with a mother diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, that’s rarely easy. Her life gets exponentially more disastrous when her sixth-period history classmates start ogling a nude picture of her on the Internet. Polarity would never have struck such a shameless pose, but the photo is definitely of her, and she’s at a complete loss to explain its existence. Child Protective Services yanks her from her home, suspecting her parents. The kids at school mock her, assuming she took it herself. And Ethan, the boy she was really starting to like, backpedals and joins the taunting chorus. Surrounded by disbelief and derision on all sides, Polarity desperately seeks the truth among her friends. Only then does she learn that everyone has dark secrets, and no one’s life is anywhere near normal.

So I meant to write this last night.  But writing reviews while half asleep is a bad idea.

Polarity in Motion was heartbreaking to read.  It makes me so grateful for my highschool experience.  The plot was pretty straightforward.  A naked picture of a girl shows up on the internet.  And then the consequences.  But it's about so much more.  This book deals with so many subjects that are relevant to us these days.  It was really a wonderful read.

The main character is Polarity, a very sheltered fifteen-year-old girl who has moved around a lot due to her mother's mental illness.  I love it when books deal with mental illness.  And this one shows how the family copes with a mother who is not completely stable.  She loves them, but she certainly doesn't always show it.  And the family gets frustrated with her.  But they understand that it's just the way things are.

Ethan has my heart in this book.  I love that Vicars pulled characters from all races.  More young adult books need to do this.  And Ethan is the best kind of guy ever.  He's sweet, friendly, protective.  But he isn't completely predictable.  I kept finding myself asking, "wait, what?  Why did he just do that?  What's going on?"  Until finally things are revealed completely with him.  And even better, because of Ethan, Polarity learns a lot about privileges and race.  She learns to see people differently.  Even though she wasn't "racist" to begin with, she was still half blind to the suffering of others.  And Ethan helped her become a better person.  

Polarity in Motion is so different from anything I've read before.  And yet it's so realistic.  Kids are bullied in school.  And there are lots of consequences.  After the whole naked picture thing happens the police are involved.  Once Polarity's parents are cleared it's not over.  Someone had to make the picture.  And so the blame has to go somewhere doesn't it?  Things in life are never simple.  And Polarity in Motion really displays how difficult life can be.

I would recommend this to anyone that reads young adult books.  Even if contemporary isn't your favorite genre it's a worthwhile read.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.