EXPOSED
In the dim light of the darkroom, I’m alone, but not for long.
As white turns to gray, Kate is with me.
The background of the dance studio blurred, so the focus is all on her
legs extended in a perfect soaring split.
The straight line to my squiggle,
my forever-best friend.
Sixteen-year-old Liz is Photogirl—sharp, focused and confident in what she sees through her camera lens. Confident that she and Kate will be best friends forever.
But everything changes in one blurry night.
In the dim light of the darkroom, I’m alone, but not for long.
As white turns to gray, Kate is with me.
The background of the dance studio blurred, so the focus is all on her
legs extended in a perfect soaring split.
The straight line to my squiggle,
my forever-best friend.
Sixteen-year-old Liz is Photogirl—sharp, focused and confident in what she sees through her camera lens. Confident that she and Kate will be best friends forever.
But everything changes in one blurry night. Suddenly, Kate is avoiding her, and people are looking the other way when she passes in the halls. As the aftershocks from a startling accusation rip through Liz’s world, everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself shifts out of focus. What happens when the picture you see no longer makes sense? What do you do when you may lose everything you love most? Told in stunning, searingly raw free verse, Exposed is Kimberly Marcus’s gut-wrenching, riveting debut and will appeal to fans of Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson and Virginia Euwer Wolff.
- Random House Books for Young Readers
- Hardcover
- February 2011
- 272 Pages
- 9780375866937
Buy the Book
$16.99
About Kimberly Marcus
Kimberly Marcus lives with her husband and two children near the beach in Massachusetts, not far from the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. She is a clinical social worker specializing in the treatment of childhood and adolescent trauma. Exposed is her first novel.
Praise
“Marcus, a writer without a melodramatic bone in her body, handles the plot with utmost naturalism: once spoken, the accusation splinters alliances among Liz’s friends and family, and the courtroom conclusion is wonderfully devoid of theatrics.”
—Daniel Kraus, Booklist
Discussion Questions
Liz doesn’t know who to believe—her brother or her best friend. Who do you believe?
Kate says she is glad she came forward, despite everything that follows. Why do you think she feels this way?
Why do you think the author chose to write this story in verse? How do you think the story would have been different if it were in prose? Do you think verse was the right choice for this story?