Isabella Danon
804

                                                                         Panic

          Panic, by Sharon M. Draper, is a novel about four friends who attend Crystal Point Dance Academy.  The chapters in this book switch from the point of view of Justin Braddock, Layla Ridgewood, Mercedes Ford, and Diamond Landers.  The night of the big dance concert, Diamond and Mercedes go to the mall to get new dance tights.  While they are at the mall, Diamond has an encounter with a very well dressed, well mannered man who claims to be involved in the making of a film with celebrities.  He asks Diamond if she would like to have a dancing part in the film.  Diamond is so excited that she may have the chance to meet celebrities, that a she is oblivious to the fact that she just left with a complete stranger.  This decision will change her life, as well as the lives of her family and friends.  Teenagers can relate to this book because the characters are all being abused in some way.
         Teens can relate to Layla Ridgewood, who is in a very bad position.  She is in a relationship with a young man named Donovan,  and he is extremely controlling.  Layla is convinced that its because he loves her.  The first time he shows signs of abuse is at one of the dance recitals.  Layla os about to go on stage, when suddenly Donovan storms into the room, demanding that Layla change her costume due to him thinking it's too revealing.  Layla tires to argue that her costume is fine and she doesn't have time to change.  Donovan squeezes her arm until a mark is left, as well as pointing out to her that she is gaining weight.  After the incident, Layla continues to believe that Donovan is the one for her.  This goes on for a while.  Behind Layla's back, Donny is seeing a girl named Magnificent Significant Jones.  Layla is notified about the situation, and immediately confronts Donovan about it.  When she tries to talk to him, he hurts her severely.  Nevertheless, she continues to come back to him again and again.  Some  advice for Layla would be to leave Donovan as soon as she can, or it will only get worse.
     Teenagers can also relate to Justin Braddock, a male dancer who has a passion for what he does.  Unfortunately, the other young men think that dancing is not athletic or manly enough.  This causes them to tease Justin and make mean comments about him.  They are not aware of the athletic strength it takes to do some of the dance moves that Justin does.  It is saddening to think that he is getting put down for doing what he loves and is his passion.  Some of the boys even go so far as to make comments about his mother, who recently passed away.  Justin spends much time trying to figure out how he can get through this difficulty.
      Finally, teens can relate to Diamond Landers, who went to the mall with her friend Mercedes, thinking that she was just getting dance tights.  She instead ended up getting kidnapped.  The man who kidnapped her is holding her hostage in a small room.  In the day time he gives her food, clothes, and things that he assumes will keep her entertained.  But at night, he drugs her and then proceeds to bring in a group of men to put Diamond through pain that no 15-year-old girl should have to go through.  All the while filming her against her will.  Diamond soon finds herself going almost insane, and the only thing that can keep her from completely loosing it is the thought of dance,  and the minisclule amount of hope that she has about escaping the place where she is being held hostage.  Now     whenever I am in a situation where someone is offering me something and they want me to follow them, I know the safest thing to do is to pass up the oprotunnity.
     Overall, this book shows that teenagers can relate to these characters if they are being abused, whether it be mentally or physically.  Even though these kids are going through struggles and difficulties of their own.  They each find a way to solve their problems in the end.  This shows that there is always a way out of a difficult situation.