The Importance of Staying True to Oneself

The importance of staying true to oneself and of a person staying true to their values is presented as being of primary importance in the novel. This is shown primarily through the characters of Anna and Rachel in the novel. The game the boys played in seventh grade where they slapped girls’ butts is presented as being disturbing and humiliating to most if not all of the girls in the novel. In seventh grade, some of the girls tried to hide their frustration and shame because they did not want to draw attention to themselves, and they did not want to get the boys in trouble. Rachel was not one of those girls. She called boys out for what they did. This served to put a bigger target on her, but she still refused to silence herself in order to...