The book Twisted, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about the troubled life a teenage boy named Tyler. His whole life, Tyler has been a nobody, outcast by the popular crowd and ignored. To change this, at the end of his junior year, he pulled a stunt that would hopefully catapult him into popularity. Let’s just say that things didn’t go as planned and he ended up in the same place that he started, but things did start to change over the summer. As punishment for vandalizing the school, Tyler is forced to work as a custodian and landscaper for the summer which in turn changes his appearance from skinny nerd to buff jock. Suddenly, the most popular girl in the school, Bethany Milbury, is interested in Tyler and he has no objects with that. But can he keep the girl of his dreams without slipping up? With all the tension in his family, there’s no telling what could happen.
After finally getting to a “popular” stage in his school, Bethany Milbury shows interest in Tyler and invites him to several outings including a big party. There was lots of drinking at the party and Tyler stayed away from that. Then after getting in a fight with the drunken Bethany, he starts to get blackmailed about what the two of them “did” at the party.
The protagonist, Tyler, is a seventeen year old boy who is having trouble in almost every aspect of his life. His father is too controlling, he isn’t popular at all, everyone knows him for his bad reputation, and all he wants is to survive though high school. His personality reflects that of a shy nerd in a jock’s body. He is shy and cannot speak what he is thinking most of the time.

“‘Hey, Tyler,’ Bethany said to me.

I had this weird rushing noise in my ears. My jeans tightened near the zipper.

‘Ha,’ I said. ‘Heya-ha.’

Idiot. Moron. Cretin. Fool” (Anderson 7).

“‘He’s six-three and one ninety-five,’ Mom Said. ‘Growing taller every day, like a cornstalk!’

Hannah Snorted.

‘Ah,’ I said, cringing. ‘Ha’” (Anderson 12).
I recommend this novel to anyone who has an interest in deep plots with psychological undertones, teen drama, and personal life problems. It gives you a lot to think about and leaves you hanging at times. For instance, Tyler is at one of his father’s company dinner parties and he is pushed by Bethany’s brother, Chip. He crashes into a waiter carrying a platter of Champaign glasses and the broken glass gets everywhere. Bethany gets hurt, but it’s only until the next chapter that you learn how severe the wounds were, both mentally and physical. The book is written very well and you definitely get to know the characters very well by the end of the book.