Painting Caitlyn- Kimberly Joy Peters

Suitable for high school audiences because of fairly mature content, Painting Caitlyn is a very honest look at first love and some of its potential dangers. Ryan, Caitlyn’s love interest, seems to be everything she wants. He’s older, charming, and seems to be getting serious about her very quickly. Flattered, Caitlyn is unaware or oblivious to the fact that he wants to have full control over her life. He resents her other friendships, encourages her to cut classes to hang out with him and undermines her own desire to do well in school. One thing leads to another, and eventually he displays physical abuse as well. Caitlyn is bewildered but still feels that if she only does the right things, it won’t happen again. Although she has supportive friends and a bit of a mixed-up relationship with her mother and step-father, she keeps her secret life secret; until it all blows up and she has to decide if she has the strength to be honest about the relationship and do something about it. There is some real food for thought here and may be helpful for young people who find themselves in a similar situation.

I’ll be sending this book on to one of my high school colleagues.

Just an added note to this- after some correspondence with the author , I have decided to place this in the YA section of my library. Sometimes I forget (or choose to forget) just how worldly-wise our students are and how much story can influence and provides courage for difficult situations they may be facing.