Thirteen-year-old Amelia Bright is incredibly intelligent and determined – she’s a star baseball player, an eloquent debater and a gifted cellist. But there’s one thing Amelia is not good at – popularity. It all started in Year 7 when a boy mocked her for her pale skin and called her ‘Maggot’ and the name stuck. When new boy, Evan, joins her baseball team he doesn’t know about her social status and it seems that he likes her. If Amelia can just prevent him from finding out about the ‘maggot’ thing, perhaps he will ask her to be his girlfriend and then all the popular kids will miraculously forget all the horrible things they used to say about her.
But Amelia discovered something worse than being called a ‘Maggot’ when she makes a mistake and her picture gets shared online with the whole school.
Tamsin Winter is brilliant at exploring the social pressures facing young teenagers and the issue of sexting and sharing nudes is increasingly affecting teens of all ages. This book is also an insightful look into the way that parents and teachers often don’t know how to react to this issue and can get it wrong. Sharing what has happened to her with adults is obviously the first and very important step, but Amelia also has to advocate for herself and come to terms with what has happened.
‘Bad Influence’ is a humorous and empowering read about the realities of being a teenager in today’s world of social media – essential reading for young teens. Definitely one I’ll be recommending in the school library!
Swimming in Books 