Target by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson

Johnson, Kathleen Jeffrie. Target. Brookfield CT: Roaring Brook Press, 2003. ISBN-10: 0-7613-2790-8

Summary
Grady is the victim of a violent sexual assault. Afterwards, ashamed that he had been such an easy target (he had been too afraid to fight back). Grady transfers schools never even speaking to his best friends. At the new school, Jess is a loud aggressively friendly student makes Grady his project. With Pearl, Jess and Fred, Grady finally starts healing and talking.

Critical Evaluation
Johnson writes a lot of description. As Grady struggles to stay in the moment, he concentrates on the physical--obsessively fingering pencils and the buttons on his shirt. Grady is working through trama. Also, Johnson's treatment of the relationship between male rape and homosexuality is sensitive, showing both Brady's fears and the anger of the gay community.  The characters are funny, human and incredibly loyal. This is a story about recovery.

Reader's Annotation 
Brady, 16 years old, built, masculine, big, felt safe. Others were nervous around him. But Brady was snatched up, attacked as easily as a little girl. Maybe something about Brady just said "target".

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness
Trauma, rape, friendship, moving on

Genre and Subject
Realistic fiction. Male rape

Why I read it
I've never heard of a book that deals with the rape of a man. It is interesting in its uniqueness.