Empty by K.M. Walton | Teen Ink

Empty by K.M. Walton

April 6, 2017
By Maggie44 BRONZE, Monroe, Wisconsin
Maggie44 BRONZE, Monroe, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Yelling, bullying, and depression are issues that Adele deals with every day at her school. Panic, pain, and suffering are the feelings that run through her head daily. The book that I’m reviewing is called Empty by K.M Walton. I would recommend this book to middle or high school aged kids because the book takes place in a high school and it goes deep into the effects of bullying.


Adele is in high school and is overweight. Adele is the best hitter on the softball team, and she has an amazing voice. Adele and her best friend Cara do everything together. Until one day it changed. Cara began hanging out with the cool kids, instead of with her. Cara had always wanted to become popular, but Adele never thought she would be ditched because of it. She gets them both invited to a party the next weekend, and Adele agrees to go. However,when the most popular boy in school--Adele’s crush since first grade--starts talking to Cara, everything changes. And just when Adele thought that things couldn't get any worse, they did.


One of the messages I think the author was trying to get across is that people shouldn’t judge others for their appearance or actions because you don’t always know their personal battles. Throughout the book, Adele is bullied for her weight and her home life doesn’t help at all. Her mom and dad got divorced, and it sent her plummeting into the deep abyss of depression. This book was written to show you what happens when someone is bullied for something that they can’t really control. Adele is overweight and has tried to lose the extra pounds, but can’t. Empty showed the bullying through the victim's eyes, and how it affects them. It showed how not everyone gets dealt a winning hand, and that words truly do hurt people, sometimes severely. Another message I think the author was trying to say is that people can hurt others without even realizing it. Adele made it a point to laugh along with their jokes about her, and even make jokes about herself, so that in her mind she can say that they aren’t laughing at her, but that they’re laughing with her instead. The kids at Adele's school don't see that their words hurt her so much because Adele doesn't let them see her real feelings in the fear of being seen as weak.


I personally did not enjoy this book. I found that it was very blunt and explicit, but it was well written and definitely got a point across. Empty is the type of book that makes you think for days after you finish it because the ending is so strong and powerful. It made me rethink my personal actions and how I treat people that I may not know a lot about. It has also changed the way that I treat people. This is why even though I didn’t enjoy the book I still recommend it to others and believe that it is really important for all teenagers to understand that people like Adele are out there and that even just being kind and sticking up for them can have a huge impact on their life.


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