Customer Reviews

Harmless

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3 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Everyone's told lies. Most lies aren't even that bad. They don't hurt anyone...they're just harmless.

One night, Mariah, Anna, and Emma are off at an older boy's house, instead of at the movies like they said they would be. But when their parents show up at the movies and can't find them anywhere, they are caught in their lie. They're okay, but they don't want to be grounded for life. Telling a little lie would be a lot easier than telling the truth, and nobody would get in trouble.

So for fear of getting in huge trouble with their parents, the girls concoct a simple story. They were on their way to the movie, walking along the river, when a man attacked Emma. They didn't get a chance to see his face, and they don't remember what he looked like because they were scared. Luckily for Emma, Mariah and Anna threw a rock at the man's head and they were able to get away. The three best friends vow to stick by this story, but they have no idea how much this one lie will envelop their lives.

They didn't count on their parents involving the police. They didn't count on everyone at school finding out. They didn't count on the entire community rallying around the girls and calling them "heroes." And they definitely didn't count on anyone being arrested for their imaginary crime. The girls are in too deep, buried in their lie. The lie that was supposed to be their savior now nags their conscious with every waking moment. But will they be able to find the courage to tell the truth?

I could really relate to the characters in this book, and see how under a pressure situation, I might have made the wrong decision, too. HARMLESS by Dana Renihardt is the story of how a seemingly small lie can take on a life of its own. But, more importantly, it shows how anyone can make a stupid mistake, and that everyone deserves forgiveness.

Reviewed by: Amber Gibson

Dana Reinhardt created a splash last year with her charming and brilliant first novel, "a brief chapter in my impossible life." I'm happy to report that her second YA novel, "Harmless," is equally accomplished.

"Harmless" is much darker than a brief chapter in my impossible life. In the grand tradition of "I Know What You Did Last Summer," it's the story of a lie and its consequences.

Three ninth-grade girls narrate the story and tell the lie--that they were attacked and one of them nearly raped. Each of the girls is insecure and unsure of herself. Anna is a coddled and much-loved only child who has never been popular. Her best friend Emma was transported to their small town--a town anchored by a college and CompuCorp--and misses New York City desperately. Like Anna, she has two loving parents. Unlike Anna, her parents argue, and they moved away from the city a few years earlier because of a sexual harassment charge against her father. New girl Mariah shows up at Orsonville Day School because her mother marries a wealthy man Mariah does not like much.

Mariah rebels by hooking up with a public school kid named D.J. When she invites Anna and Emma to a party, the lies begin. At first, Anna and Emma tell their parents that they are at one another's house. When they're finally caught, the lie is told.

Reinhardt is particularly skilled at first-person narration. Each girl's voice is so distinct, that I no longer had to read the chapter title by the time I was halfway through the novel. Emma is confused and hurt. Anna is intelligent and self-absorbed. Mariah is angry and desires attention, but is good at heart. What I especially appreciated about "Harmless" is that these girls are recognizable. Yes, they've each had a problem or two, but nothing drastic or unusual enough to explain away their lie. As Mariah says:

"I know it sounds crazy now, but that night, making up the lie seemed like the easy way out. A harmless little lie. You've told lies before, haven't you? I ask them. Everyone's told lies. It was just that I was unable to see, right then, that the lie would gather speed and its current would carry it further and further away from me."

"Harmless" is highly recommended for teen readers ages thirteen and up. Some sexual content.

What happens when the stakes suddenly grow so steep that it feels as if there is no turning back, that there is no real option other than to add a few new stories to a house of cards that is swiftly growing into a teetering high rise?

"White ones and red ones
And some you can't disguise
Twisted truth and half the news
Can't hide it in your eyes."
--The Thompson Twins, "Lies"

Anna:
"Mom and Dad always made this big deal all the time about what a perfect kid I was and that made it difficult for me to lie to them. They always told me that I was so smart and mature and that I know how to make the right decisions for myself. They tell me that the best part about being my parents is, no, not watching my bad karaoke, it's just sitting back and watching me figure out my way through the world. Well, that's what I was doing, wasn't I? Sometimes figuring your own way through the world means lying to your parents. Sometimes it means taking risks. Making new friends, Meeting new people from different neighborhoods and different backgrounds. Sometimes it means doing things that nobody would ever imagine Anna Banana would do."

Emma:
"Parents don't really want to know the truth. They just want to know that everything is perfect and that their children are smart and happy and popular and out of danger so they can concentrate on their own problems."

Mariah:
"Funny. I'd lied to my mother, stolen her money, spent the night with my boyfriend, and managed to get her to feel sorry for me. I was a genius."

HARMLESS is the story of three ninth-grade girls who attend a private school in Orsonville, a small town along the Hudson River. For years there have been Anna-and-Emma. When Mariah joins up with them, it appears as if there might be an opportunity for the duo to escape social invisibility. After all, Mariah's got a hot, older boyfriend with a car who attends the public school. And it doesn't take much for the girls to convince themselves that it is time to become the sort of adolescents who might engage in some of those reasonably common teen behaviors that parents wouldn't exactly approve of.

Emma:
"I wondered if Silas had ever been in my situation. I wondered if he ever lied about where he was spending the night. I'm not sure Mom and Dad would get so bent out of shape if Silas spent the night at some strange girl's house with no adult supervision. There's a clear double standard in our house and it's not just because Silas is older. It's because Silas is a boy, and I get the sense that Dad takes pride in knowing, or at least assuming, that Silas has a way with girls."

"The truth is like chasing a phantom
The truth is so seemingly random"
--Todd Rundgren, "Truth"

What happens when things get too out of control?

Emma:
"This was bad. We couldn't get caught."

Anna:
"I know what I saw. I may be inexperienced. I may never have kissed a boy or had his hand in my shirt, but I know what I saw."

Author Dana Reinhardt does a superb job of crafting the setting and then upping the ante as HARMLESS reveals itself to be a harrowing tale of three friends whose "harmless" lie leads to potential repercussions extending far beyond their ability to spend future Friday nights easily deceiving their parents.

My bet is that it will only take one or two readers to have a major chunk of the eighth and ninth graders lining up to read this one.

I didn't care too much for the characters. In fact, it was difficult for me to pick the book back up once I got to page 50. The lie the characters made up was just so idiotic. I continued reading it - despite the fact that it was kind of 'iffy'. The character bonds were just disappointing in my opinion. The only decent relationship was between Silas and Emma. Oh, there are a ton of interesting little tidbits throughout the book while in Emma's perspective. Anyway, the book really got good when bad things started happening to the characters.

It was an enjoyable read, but I won't recommend it when there are so many other fantastic books out there.

Anna and Emma have been best friends since [..]and are completely inseparable. That is, until Mariah comes to town. With her wild ways and fast attitude, Mariah enters their school and turns their lives upside down.

Emma is the product of two university professors and has an older brother, Silas. She is talented and outgoing, and participates in school plays. Anna is an only child who is responsible, dependable and an all-around good girl. Mariah has an older boyfriend who attends another school and likes to show off her hickeys. The three of them coming together is pretty far-fetched, but, oh well, opposites do attract.

As the girls grow closer, Mariah decides to let Emma and Anna in on her secrets. She introduces them to her boyfriend's buddies, and they all plan a sleepover at his house. During the slumber party Emma decides to takes things to the next level with one of his friends and joins the "I'm a woman" club with Mariah. Anna is feeling left out but is content with being the third wheel, or so she thinks. Preparations to spend another evening with the guys go terribly wrong, and they end up being caught. To cover their tracks the girls invent a story about Emma being attacked, which should have cleared everything up, right?

WRONG. Their parents are so worried and concerned that they report the incident to the police. To make matters worse, everyone in town hears about what supposedly happened and start looking for the nonexistent assailant. None of this attention was anticipated, and it begins to negatively affect the girls' relationship. Anna loves being in the spotlight, Emma withdraws into a shell and Mariah finds out that being "a woman" isn't all that it's cracked up to be. When an innocent man is sent to jail, the truth must come out. Are they ready to face the consequences?

Dana Reinhardt, author of A BRIEF CHAPTER IN MY IMPOSSIBLE LIFE, sheds light on how innocent white lies can become glaring blemishes that can't be fixed. She focuses her story on growing pains, learning to take responsibility and knowing right from wrong. HARMLESS is an accurate account of how telling the truth at all costs really does matter. After all, in life, nothing is really harmless. Is it?

--- Reviewed by Belinda Williams

Anna and Emma have been best friends since third grade and are completely inseparable. That is, until Mariah comes to town. With her wild ways and fast attitude, Mariah enters their school and turns their lives upside down.

Emma is the product of two university professors and has an older brother, Silas. She is talented and outgoing, and participates in school plays. Anna is an only child who is responsible, dependable and an all-around good girl. Mariah has an older boyfriend who attends another school and likes to show off her hickeys. The three of them coming together is pretty far-fetched, but, oh well, opposites do attract.

As the girls grow closer, Mariah decides to let Emma and Anna in on her secrets. She introduces them to her boyfriend's buddies, and they all plan a sleepover at his house. During the slumber party Emma decides to takes things to the next level with one of his friends and joins the "I'm a woman" club with Mariah. Anna is feeling left out but is content with being the third wheel, or so she thinks. Preparations to spend another evening with the guys go terribly wrong, and they end up being caught. To cover their tracks the girls invent a story about Emma being attacked, which should have cleared everything up, right?

WRONG. Their parents are so worried and concerned that they report the incident to the police. To make matters worse, everyone in town hears about what supposedly happened and start looking for the nonexistent assailant. None of this attention was anticipated, and it begins to negatively affect the girls' relationship. Anna loves being in the spotlight, Emma withdraws into a shell and Mariah finds out that being "a woman" isn't all that it's cracked up to be. When an innocent man is sent to jail, the truth must come out. Are they ready to face the consequences?

Dana Reinhardt, author of A BRIEF CHAPTER IN MY IMPOSSIBLE LIFE, sheds light on how innocent white lies can become glaring blemishes that can't be fixed. She focuses her story on growing pains, learning to take responsibility and knowing right from wrong. HARMLESS is an accurate account of how telling the truth at all costs really does matter. After all, in life, nothing is really harmless. Is it?

--- Reviewed by Belinda Williams

Lying is the universal sin. We all have done it, some of us still do it on a daily basis. Some of us are aware we do it and we try not to do it. Most of the lies we tell our harmless and forgotten. But lying is very very bad. It can destroy trust and truth and make you unforgettable in a bad way. Thats exactly what happened in this book. What made me upset is they had ample opportunities to tell the truth, where it couldn't of got so out of control. But nope they chose to tell a story, a story that actually happens to other girls. Something no one should lie about. This book should be able to scare all of us into telling the truth. And if we can't tell the truth then don't say anything at all or don't put yourself in a situation where you know your going to lie later on. I believe these girls in this book learned that lesson. I certainly learned. And because of this book I am making it my goal to never ever tell a lie again. To always be truthful. This is one of the best books Ive read and I would definitely give it to anyone who is lying or guilty of always telling lies.

Emma, Anna, and Mariah have spent the evening with some older boys instead of going to the movies like they told their parents. Unfortunately, one of the parents goes to the same movie and discovers that the girls are not there. When they realize they are in big trouble, Emma convinces the girls to tell a "harmless" lie. They were attacked by the river, the man stole their cell phones, but Anna and Mariah were able to surprise him and they get away.

After their parents make them report the "crime," the girls' lives slowly begin to spin out of control: Anna loves the attention she is getting and no longer feels invisible, Mariah goes on with life as though nothing has changed, and Emma is so consumed with guilt, she can barely function.

I felt cheated when I read what the girls thought was a "harmless" lie. It was anything but and I think that even as high school freshmen, they would have known this. Their cavalier attitudes are infuriating. It was almost refreshing that Emma becoming more and more withdrawn and that she felt guilty about what they had done. In the end, the girls are truly changed by their actions and I thought the book had a great resolution.

To avoid getting in trouble at home, three, ninth grade girls: Mariah, Anna and Emma, make up a story about a strange man trying to attack Emma in the park on a Friday night. The truth of the matter was that these three freshmen girls were at an underage drinking party, not where they told their parents they would be.

When the parents of the girls get the police involved, one lie becomes so much more. The teachers and community are outraged, that a ninth grade girl was almost raped, and soon they begin a search for a non-existent attacker.

While two of the girls attain almost celebrity status among their peers, the other becomes withdrawn and depressed. When a homeless man is arrested for the reported attack, and things begin to spiral out of control, the girls have no choice but to come clean, and tell what really happened that night.

HARMLESS is classified as a YA book. This review is based on the unabridged audio book, which was told in alternating viewpoints, by three different readers (all very good). Although the plot seemed somewhat contrived, I was still glad I listened to it. It sends an important message to teens; for every action there is a reaction.

It was a great story idea. I enjoyed the book but it wasn't a book that I just couldn't put down. I would reccomend it for those that are interested, but I would put it in my top ten of favorite books.