Friction [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

E.R. Frank (Author), Jessalyn Gilsig (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2003

All Alex's classmates know it: Simon is the coolest teacher. When Stacy - the new kid with secrets, gleaming dark hair and a tongue ring - arrives at school, she sizes up Simon: "He's a total babe". This is certainly true, but the story she tell about Alex and Simon isn't. It just looks as if could be. And Alex herself begins to wonder what's real, what's not. But she can't confide in her parents because after all she is crazy about Simon...just not in that way. Listening to Stacy everyone seems totally suckered. The truth is hopelessly complicated and gets more so when Alex makes a surprise visit to Stacy's house. She finds the answers to her questions, but also discovers something terrible...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most well-known for her devastatingly poignant teen tales of urban desperation and redemption, renowned young adult author E. R. Frank switches gears and narrows her focus to the pivotal events of one 8th grade classroom. The progressive petri dish of Forest Alternative’s middle school is stirred the wrong way when sophisticated, tongue-ringed Stacy makes the scene. Almost immediately, Stacy takes advantage of the school’s relaxed and experimental atmosphere to start a little excitement. For reasons known only to herself, she begins to insinuate that Simon, the 8th grade‘s idealistic, good-looking young teacher, is in love with Alex, Friction’s mild mannered first person narrator. Embarrassed and infuriated, Alex tries to squelch the gossip, but only manages to make herself look more guilty to her classmates. When she finally confronts Stacy, Alex is horrified when Stacy tearfully admits that the reason she’s been spreading the rumors is to draw attention away from the fact that Simon is actually molesting her. Confused and half caught up in Stacy’s stories herself, Alex makes the mistake of trusting her shifting feelings instead of what she knows to be true, irreparably harming her admired teacher in the process. Friction is a provocative, deadly accurate portrayal of puberty, in all its manipulative, perplexing, unmanageable glory. Alex’s quest to discover the definition of truth is a journey every teenager makes, and teen readers of Friction will take great comfort in the fact that a trusted author, who clearly hasn’t forgotten adolescence herself, is helping to chart the path. (Ages 12 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-Alex, almost 13, has gone to Forest Alternative school for three years, and is a force on the otherwise all-male soccer team. Simon is her teacher, coach, and friend. He has taught his students with attention toward their intellectual, athletic, and emotional growth. When Stacy, a new girl, waltzes into this eighth-grade utopia, the balance of the classroom dynamics tips. She starts rumors about Simon's attraction to Alex, and casts a sticky web of sexual discomfort over the class. Everything Alex sees, feels, and knows becomes laden with ulterior meanings. Only Simon remains clueless about what's going on. He is a free spirit who neglects protocol and makes poor choices. On the class camping trip Alex sees his "thing" on her way to the latrine. Later, he climbs into the kids' tent to avoid a storm and lies down next to her. At novel's end, the only clarity is that the brash and troubled Stacy has caused the pain in her own life to seep over into those who've been previously spared. False accusations, dark family secrets, professional boundaries, and coming-of-age, all contribute to the novel's friction, reflecting a point of view that twists, turns, and confronts readers. Most of them will identify with Alex, her conflicting thoughts, and the events that she unintentionally unleashes. Her voice is convincingly genuine, and her confusion and self-doubt are powerful reminders of the na‹vet‚ and culpability of adolescence. The silent, if misplaced guilt that she absorbs will linger long after the book is closed.
Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Listening Library; Unabridged edition (May 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080721647X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807216477
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,067,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: FRICTION, April 10, 2003

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Friction (Hardcover)

" ' You can trust me,' I finally say. Because when people tell you a secret, it's like a gift. You don't just give it away to someone else, even if you never asked for it in the first place." --from FRICTION

Back in the spring of 1999, working as a Children's Buyer, I read an advance copy of Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK. My reaction to reading the book was to order a shelf-full for each of the stores. I wrote at the time that SPEAK should be required reading for all eighth-graders, both guys and girls.

Now, after reading SPEAK aloud to a couple of years' worth of eighth-grade English students, I can readily articulate some of its lessons:

We learn, of course, that Melinda shouldn't have put herself in danger by getting drunk in the dark with a bunch of older strangers. But then, after having gotten drunk and having been raped, we also know that Melinda could have avoided or mitigated that nightmare of a freshman year if either:
(1) She had spoken to adults she trusted about what had happened to her.
(2) Her friends and schoolmates had reacted to her unusual behavior (calling the cops, inconsistency in her physical appearance, skipping school, not speaking) by talking to Melinda or speaking about her to adults they trusted.

It is a totally different story, yet a very similar lesson that is encountered in FRICTION, an extraordinarily gripping tale designed for sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders.

FRICTION is written by E. R. (Emily) Frank, a young star who is ascending rapidly on the Y.A. horizon. As with reading SPEAK, FRICTION left me misty-eyed as I finished it.

In FRICTION, an innocent young girl's budding sexuality contributes to the terrible confusion--and, ultimately, to the tragic consequences--when Stacy, a new (and older) classmate begins what appears to be an insidious campaign to portray their young and very popular teacher, Simon, as a "pervert."

Alex, the seventh-grade soccer-playing girl, narrates the story of what happens after Stacy arrives at the progressive private school attended by Alex and Tim. Stacy is the girl with secrets who knows how to make an entrance:

"She's got shiny black hair down to her behind and gray eyes that take up her whole face, and she's as skinny as I am. She's wearing a purple-and-black turtleneck and jeans that look brand-new, and she grins at everybody like she's totally psyched to meet us. She's got a gap between her two front teeth.
" ' Hi,' she goes. 'I'm Stacy.' I see a flash of silver in her mouth. A tongue ring. 'Let's get this party started.'
"And that's how it begins."

Stacy's behavior and her unrelenting proclamations to the students about what's going on threatens the life-long friendship that Alex has with Tim. Alex becomes more and more uncertain in her own mind as to what the truth really is:

"I want things to make sense now, but...the things I need to figure out don't have rules. Like why Stacy wants it to be true that Simon and I like each other in that certain way. Like why I've been scared lately that maybe she's right. What if Simon does look at me?"

As with SPEAK, things spiral out of control because of the failure--by every one of the students--to confide in an adult. The events result in Alex's loss of that innocent childhood image of Simon as a teacher; she instead begins to see him as a man.

(And, so here we go again...)

Many educators apparently get weak-kneed about teaching SPEAK to eighth graders--preferring to ignore its value to those eighth-graders who could well wind up in Melinda's position. Fearing the "mature" content (or fearing other adults who haven't even read the book), they pass off all responsibility to high school teachers, thus diminishing the possibility that its vital message will be heard in time by students at risk. (Melinda notes sarcastically in SPEAK how they don't get around to learning about sex at Merryweather until eleventh grade.)

Similarly, with teaching FRICTION, I could hear the tension start building about five paragraphs back: "SIXTH GRADE!!! Discuss WHAT?!!! BUDDING SEXUALITY?!!! IMPROPER PHYSICAL CONTACT AND SEXUAL ABUSE?!!!"

That's right, let's all procrastinate until an age that it's all ridiculously beside the point. Sorry. If it were me, I'd willingly take on a thousand irate parents/administrators/school board members if it meant that I could save one kid from going through the trauma Melinda faces in SPEAK or that Alex, Tim, Stacy, and Simon all face in FRICTION.

This will be a book you'll be hearing plenty about in the coming year.

Richie Partington
....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars E.R. Frank is 3 for 3, September 8, 2004

By 

Jarrod T Thompson "Young Adult Author" (Junction City, KS) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Friction (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading three E.R. Frank books in a row. She is three for three, in my opinion.

Friction is a very accurate description of an eighth grade classroom and what can happen at a small school when you add a new girl, rumors, and the natural confusion that teens feel as their worlds change from bubble gum and Big Chief Tablets to their periods, puberty and sexual feelings.

E.R. Frank does a superb job of drawing the reader into the story, accurately and believably describing the gossip and rumor circles that can easily develop in this type of school setting, and showing how seemingly innocent rumors and drama can turn into very hurtful items.

All of the characters in this book learn a solid lesson about life and how important it is to say what you are feeling and speak the truth on behalf of those you care for, or lives can be drastically changed.

Friction is a story of life, love, learning, betrayal, repression, trust, friendship, honesty, lies, the importance of parents being there for their children and knowing when a child is crying for help.

E.R. Frank knows kids very well. She knows teens even better. Most importantly, E.R. Frank has not lost touch with the younger generations.

E.R. Frank is a gift to Young Adult literature, and Friction is just the latest in her series of unforgettable contributions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good "rite of passage" book, April 12, 2005

By 

ellen close (Pomfret, Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Friction (Hardcover)

When a new girl at school starts making comments that undermine the credibility of a popular teacher, 12 year old Alex finds herself at the center of the storm. In Friction, she narrates the confusion and anxiety of her 8th grade year at a small alternative-type school; the teacher moves up along with the children, so Simon has been their only teacher. His rapport with the students is good, encouraging them with charm and hugs to push their limits and test their abilities through rock climbing and other physical challenges. He is their soccer coach too, and his years of coaching are starting to pay off; the team is solid and will finally achieve their goal of challenging a prep school team. Then Stacy joins their school. With a pierced tongue, hair that is the envy of all the girls, and a bravado attitude, she exudes an intimidating cool maturity to which she adds an air of mystery by refusing to talk openly about her family or background. When her whispered taunts about Simon take on an unpleasant sexuality, the students abandon their innocent respect for Simon, accepting instead Stacy's jaded, cynical attitude. But what is the truth, and who is right? Find the shocking answer in this accurate portrayal of the reluctant but inevitable loss of innocence in the passage from child to "adult."