Crossing Lines book cover. Photo from Amazon.
Crossing Lines is a realistic fiction novel which explores around the topic of bullying, taking a stand against it and finding your true identity all occurring during high school.
Written by critically acclaimed author Paul Volponi, the novel takes place at Central High School. The main character Adonis is the stereotypical senior/jock who´s on the football team along with his other friends who are not necessarily the wisest group of guys. Now, Adonis has everything good going for him along with a strong reputation among his high school peers and smart girlfriend.
On the other hand, Alan(a) is a newly transferred student who is openly gay and feminine. Of course the students, but notably the football team are bothered by him because they obviously don’t see Alan(a) as a normal person and don’t even consider him a real guy, but this doesn´t stop Alan(a) from expressing himself by wearing dresses, putting on makeup whatsoever from the bullying which he was my favorite character throughout the novel.
As the novel unravels, Adonis becomes indecisive on where he should stand on whether standing for Alan(a) from the abuse or staying silent among his peers as the torture continues. It gets even worse as the team come with a plan to humiliate/embarrass Alan(a) at a local school fashion show which forces Adonis to do a quick action.
Influencing factors for his decisions to stand by Alan is his girlfriend and sister Jeannie since they are apart of the school fashion club with Alan(a) and have expressed their anger on how he is treated at school. Another influence would definitely be the his friends which makes sense because if he does stand up to them, he will lose his manly reputation from not only them, but also the school.
To be honest, I think the story would’ve been a bit better if it was told Alan(a)´s perspective/point of view because I think he has a bigger impact in the novel then what Adonis has. Also, it would be more intriguing to see his outlook on the taunting he gets from the students daily and how he would overcome it rather than Adonis who just mostly talks about football and girls.
Overall, I would recommend this book I feel like many young people still go through these issues while in high school whether they’re being affected by bullying,witnessing someone go through it or just trying to find themselves. While reading, I came to realized that Malden High is a great school where every student can express and embrace their culture without judgement.
