Shattering Glass was a quick, easy read that pretty much gave you the ending right on the first page. The story shows the long build-up to the tragic end, meanwhile you get little glances at what seems to happen to Young, Rob, and Bobster after the ending of the book.

The story moved fast and you learned more about the characters through dialogue and action rather than descriptions. I can’t say I was ever attached to any of them, though I felt the most for Coop because he really struggled with his home life and wanting to get a scholarship so that he would not end up like his father. I didn’t even feel bad for Simon despite knowing that these other boys were just making a spectacle of him. Simon’s attitude really irked me throughout the book.

I was honestly a little dissatisfied with the way the book ended because there was all this build-up and the climax lasted about half a page, then the book ended. I just felt like there would be a little more to it, but I do respect the author’s way of ending things. Again, I was just hoping for more.

So, overall, this book was pretty good and I think that over time as it comes back to me I’ll appreciate it more. ( )

Nicely written tight, with a good voice and plenty of humor on what is a terrifying and very realistic story. A male version of [b:Carrie|10592|Carrie|Stephen King|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166254258s/10592.jpg|1552134], but with a nebbish, Simon, who knows how to stand up for himself -- and ends up paying dearly for it. Really good for boys especially., ( )

Simon Glass is the school geek, the class joke. He wears highwater pants, tucks his shirts into his Fruit of the Looms and even has a pocket protector crammmed with pens and a calculator. Rob Haynes is the opposite. He's popular, confident, attractive, magnetic. He has a way with the girls and the teachers. When he enters a room...all eyes on Rob. So when Rob starts inviting Simon to hang out with him and his friends, no one at B'vale school is quite sure what to make of it. That's when Rob explains to his buddies that making fun of Simon is too easy. The real challenge is to turn Simon into the most popular person in school. So the guys take Simon to the mall. Get him decent clothes, a cool haircut, start up a fitness plan. Pretty soon Simon is becoming part of the inner circle. Imagine that...people start looking to the class nerd. But Rob didn't count on Simon having a backbone. Underneath all that nerdiness ....... So when Rob sees Simon veering away from his carefully laid plan, he’s (not?) happy about it (at?) all. Looks more like the ugly duckling has become Frankenstein's monster.

Would have been an A+ book if not for the absurdly cheesy, cringeworthy dialogue and narration. The narrator wants to be a writer when he graduates? Wow, shocker! However, at the ending, there is a legitimate shocker, which in and of itself is shocking. Suspenseful.

Pageturner. Great suspense with quotes at the beginning of chapters adding to the questions in your mind and keeping the suspense level up. Foul language, foul hand gestures and reference to a sexual encounter while not fully descriptive is titillating which may be a problem for JHS aged students although those encounters are realistic in this age group.