Dear Medusa

 Cole, Olivia A. Dear Medusa. 2023. 384p. ISBN 9780593485736.

Alicia Rivers is known as the school slut. She'll get in anyone's car, and no one at school trusts her. But Alicia has a dark secret. She was groomed and abused by the Colonel, a male science teacher at her high school that dresses up as Colonel Sanders every Halloween. Known as the best teacher at the school, and appreciated by all staff and students, the Colonel is, in Alicia's eyes, a wolf who predatorily hunts students for his own sexual gratification. Like Medusa, Alicia has been convicted in the eyes of others and transformed from victim to monster.

The twin events of her abuse at the Colonel's hand and her parents' nasty divorce have shattered her life, causing her to retreat inside of herself. Alicia is now on a quest, to see if the wolves out there, men, will ignore or restraint themselves in her presence. She keeps hoping that someone will walk away, restoring part of her faith in the world, but they never do. Her brother is just as lost, abusing marijuana and hanging out with bad influences. Her mother is dealing with her own demons, and just can't be there for her daughter, while her father has left and is dating a much younger woman.

Spending more time in detention than in classrooms suits Alicia fine, since she can't totally ignore the stares and the gossip. Plus people keep leaving nasty notes in her locker. But the arrival of a new girl, Deja, who is not intimidated by her reputation provides a ray of sunshine in an otherwise drab existence. She's also attracted to another new student, Geneva, who reciprocates her feelings. 

When one of the note indicates that a student knows about the abuse, Alicia's world is once again thrown into turmoil. Can she really fight off the teacher she's been trying to ignore? With the help of her friends, and through a process of self discovering involving therapy where issues of ownership of one's body and labels, Alicia learns to reconnect with the girl she once was. Will she be able to own up Medusa's monstrosity to rediscover the humanity that lays inside of her?