Shattering Glass is Gail Giles's debut Young Adult novel, published in 2002. Rob, the charismatic leader of an all-male clique at high school, takes Simon Glass under his wing. Simon is an overweight nerd who is disliked by all, but Rob instructs his clique that they have to make Simon popular.
Tropes
- Armor-Piercing Question: Simon asks, "Why did it go on so long, Rob? Did you enjoy it?" which drives Rob into a violent rage.
- Bystander Syndrome: A recurring theme is Rob being in control of events and the entire clique lets him get away with it. It comes back in a big way when Young watches the rest of the group brutally beat Simon to death and does nothing to stop it.
- Fat Bastard: Simon is disliked for his weight, but he's also a manipulative jerkass.
- Karma Houdini: Of a sort. Rob escapes justice for Simon's death since his mother harbors him and they flee the country. However, Young says that he doesn't think Rob got away with anything, since he still lives with the pain of having been molested and killing Simon.
- The Makeover: Rob and the clique give Simon a makeover, in a Gender Flip of the then very popular She's All That.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Invoked by Simon when he asks Rob if he enjoyed being molested for years.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Young's birth name is Thaddeus, but he's only known as Young because Thaddeus runs in his family.
- Rape and Switch: Discussed. Simon accuses Rob of being gay due to not stopping his molestation by his father. This drives Rob instantly to madness and causes Rob to lead the others in beating Simon to death. However, Rob is Ambiguously Gay, as he bonds very closely with the guys (especially Young) but doesn't seem all that interested in girls.
- Rape as Backstory: Young was molested by a camp counselor, and Rob was raped by his father for years.
- Rape Leads to Insanity: Rob is the ringleader of Simon's murder after Simon accuses him of "enjoying" being raped by his father.
- Secondary Character Title: The book is called Shattering Glass after Simon Glass, but Young is the narrator (though an argument could be made that Simon and Rob are more important characters).
- Supporting Protagonist: The narrator, Young Steward, is Rob's best friend but also extremely passive to a fault. The main rivalry is between Simon and Rob.
