User:Dsecchia/Bottled Up/Overview of Bottled Up by Jaye Murray

Bottled Up, by Jaye Murray, is a young-adult novel that is richly layered so teachers can teach analysis as well as comprehension. Pip is a troubled teen who uses sarcasm and drugs to mask the pain his abusive homelife creates. As the result of an ultimatum by his principal, Pip seeks counseling, and while his peers are sent to juvie, Pip gets a second chance to be a better student, person, and big brother. While his path is not easy, he finds redemption by the end of the novel and begins to turn his life around.

A realistic portrayal of how hard it is to change one's life, Murray creates a rich text full of possibilities for analysis - analysis of one's own choices as well as stylistic choices of the writing.