Amelia Westlake Was Never Here (YA romance)

     Rosemead, an elite girls private school, has a serious problem. Its swimming coach is a sexual predator who behaves very inappropriately with the students. The administration takes his side, silencing anyone who tries to report him. A ex Olympian, he's good for the school's image and income. In Erin Gough's Amelia Westlake Was Never Here two protagonists who could not possibly be more different join forces to try to take him down. 

     Will (short for Wilhelmina) has a troublemaker reputation. Actually she speaks her mind even if she knows she'll be punished for it. She is no fan of the school or her privileged peers. She longs to be in "A world in which people like [Coach] Hadley get what they deserve. A world where my classmates care about sticking up for each other more than they care about whose parents have the most expensive car." In other words she's a social justice warrior.

     Harriet is a model Rosemead student, highly engaged academically and in athletics. She sees her arrival at the school as the defining moment of her life. She obeys every rule and wears her uniform perfectly and proudly. TBH she's a bit of a suck up when it comes to the administration. 

  Needless to say, neither is a fan of the other.

   But an unexpected meeting leads to an unlikely collaboration. They create a fictitious student, Amelia Westlake, to take credit for their actions. 

     Amelia quickly becomes quite popular with the students. But her actions get her on the administration radar. If their identities are discovered Will and Harriet will be in a world of trouble. 

     Could they possibly succeed in their mission with the odds seriously against them? Could they go from enemies to more than just friends? 

     Amelia Westlake Was Never Here combines an engaging plot with candid discussion of a problem that exists in too many schools today. 

On a purrrsonal note, I was a high school first year student. In swimming class the teacher told me to stay in the pool when he dismissed the class. He touched me very aggressively under my bathing suit and then told me it was our little secret. The next day I told the principal who called me a vicious little liar and said she wouldn't let me destroy a good man's reputation. It makes me angry that girls today still have to deal with that evil. 

A great big shout out goes out to all who see something and say something. 

Jules Hathaway 

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