One of the best experiences I had early in my blogging career was participating in the Cybils. Aside from being a fun and educational opportunity — and it was hugely educational in terms of teaching me how to read, write, and talk about books critically — I made a number of great friends. 

My first Cybils experience was in 2009, and my panel chose Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers as the winning title. It’s a book that we talked about for a long time, and we thought it met the criteria of both being well-written and having wide teen appeal. Immediately after reading that book, I picked up Summers’s second title, Some Girls Are and advocated hard for it to be considered during my second year on the Cybils. And it was.

Little did I know that five years later, Courtney and I would have the kind of relationship that we have. We’ve gotten to know each other well — we hadn’t known or talked to each other before/during those Cybils years — and I’ve really come to appreciate not just her books, but also the level of passion and care and respect she has for teenagers and for teenage girls. That shines through in her writing. Last winter I wrote about her books — and more specifically, the kinds of teen girls she writes about — as part of a read along of her work. If you’re not familiar, that should be a primer to dipping into her work. 

Earlier this year, she approached me about reading her upcoming 2015 title, All The Rage. The book didn’t come easy for her, and the topic isn’t one that would lend itself to easy. It’s a story about rape culture and the ways that society will go to the ends of the world to protect its boys at the expense of the truths girls live with everyday. It’s a powerful story about rape and rape culture, about small towns, about social and economic disparity, and about gender more broadly. 

To say I was blown away by the book would be an understatement. This is a powerful, important, well-written, and feminist story. It’s raw and ugly, timely and timeless. 

The description from Edelweiss: 

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, ALL THE RAGE examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women after an act of sexual violence, forcing us to ask ourselves: In a culture that refuses to protect its young girls, how can they survive? 

Romy embodies what it means to have everything that’s yours taken from you, and she fights back tooth and nail to regain not just a shred of herself but she fights back to ensure that other girls don’t have to endure what she has. That being made to be “less than” because of someone else’s actions isn’t OKAY. 

It’s a book about girls taking back what is rightfully theirs: the voices, their bodies, their place in society as humans. 

If I had to give this a “meets,” it is spot on Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak meets Veronica Mars. It’s about having your voice taken from you, and it’s about fighting tooth and nail to get it back — and yes, there’s a mystery/thriller component to it. This is Summers’s best work, hands down, and her writing cuts straight to the bone. It’s not friendly and it’s not supposed to be. 

One of the better things that’s come out of not being part of the Printz next year is that I can start talking about — and keep talking about — the really great books coming out in 2014. This is one such book I’m eager to speak up about. It’s already received a pile of excellent blurbs, and Chuck Wendig noted it as a title that’s “stuck with him.”

While it’s too early to review this book, I believe in it so much and want people to be aware of it when it publishes in April. In honor of the cover reveal this week, I’m offering up a giveaway. How about three pre-orders of All The Rage? This is open to people in the US and Canada, and the contest will run through next Thursday, September 25. I’ll draw three winners and order you copies of All The Rage, which will show up in mid-April at your door. 

Fill out the simple form below, and add this book to your to-read lists. Bonus: you can read the first chapter in full here — and it’s about as to-the-bone as it gets.

I love and believe in this book with all of my heart. This is what good, memorable, powerful YA looks like. I want to press it into the hands of every YA reader and everyone who works with teenagers.