67 pages • 2 hours read
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Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1, Chapters 1-2
Part 1, Chapters 3-4
Part 1, Chapter 5
Part 2, Chapters 6-7
Part 2, Chapters 8-9
Part 2, Chapters 10-11
Part 2, Chapters 12-13
Part 2, Chapters 14-15
Part 3, Chapters 16-17
Part 3, Chapters 18-19
Part 3, Chapters 20-21
Part 3, Chapters 22-23
Part 3, Chapters 24-25
Part 3, Chapters 26-27
Part 3, Chapters 28-29
Part 3, Chapters 30-31
Part 3, Chapters 32-33
Part 3, Chapters 34-35
Part 3, Chapters 36-37
Part 3, Chapters 38-39
Part 3, Chapters 40-41
Part 3, Chapters 42-43
Part 4, Chapter 44
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
Valerie Leftman, 16 at the time of the shooting, lives with her mother, Jenny, her father, Ted, and younger brother, Frankie, in a largely upper-middle-class suburb in the Midwest. She is the first-person limited narrator and protagonist of Hate List. Before sixth grade, Valerie was a typical girl, listening to popular music and hanging out with other girls like her. However, Valerie notes, “somewhere around sixth grade, all of that seemed to change. I began to look around me and think that maybe I didn't have all that much in common with those other kids” (132). She notices how close and happy other children and their parents are, while her parents’ relationship toward each other and toward her seems strained. As her parents’ marriage crumbles and the fighting escalates, Valerie starts to experiment with her identity, taking on a darker persona and dressing in dark, purposefully destroyed clothing. She wears heavy eyeliner and listens to angry music.
Her school life deteriorates simultaneously: her childhood bully, Christy Bruter, becomes more popular as Valerie becomes less so. Her father takes refuge from his unhappy home life in his work, typically ignoring Valerie and her mother, who, despondent over her failing marriage, picks on her daughter about her looks and choices.
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