Reconstructing Amelia Book Report

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Recommended: Modern society and the effect of social media

Since the start of this quarter I have been reading the novel Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight and I am currently on 153. This book is about Amelia Barron and her alleged suicide. Right before Amelia jumped from the roof of her private school, she was caught cheating on a test. Amelia’s mother, Kate, is in disbelief that her sweet, perfect, obedient daughter would turn recalcitrant, and in even more disbelief that her daughter would commit suicide. When Kate gets an anonymous text stating that Amelia did not jump, she set out to find out what really happened to her daughter. This book jumps from three main perspectives; the perspective of Kate after Amelia dies, the perspective of Amelia before she dies, and various sources of social …show more content…

I don’t think people realize how much their words and actions can hurt others, and this is shown throughout the entire novel. The first page of the book starts off with a post from a website called gRaCeFULLY. This website is completely dedicating to gossiping about all the drama that is going on in the school. The things posted are directed at specific individuals and are very hurtful: “Word is that [she] is ready and willing. Oh wait, sorry, that’s OLD news. She’s already screwed half the varsity lettermen” (McCreight 84). Although not every school has a website like this, it shows that every school is affected by some form of bullying. Also, Amelia’s best friend, Sylvia, is rude and says hurtful things to Amelia all the time. Amelia isn’t too bothered by these comments, and defends her actions by saying, “She did it when she felt like you’d hurt her feelings first…I tried to overlook the stuff she said…because I actually think she was jealous” (McCreight 29). Throughout the entire novel bullying is shown and I think Kimberly McCreight did that on purpose to show how much of a problem this is today in society. She also shows the lesson to always tell the truth, because lying isn’t worth

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