Hate List

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

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Part 3, Chapters 38-39Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3

Part 3, Chapter 38 Summary

After the day at Nick’s grave, Frankie goes to live with he and Valerie’s dad. He raves about Briley, how cool she is, and how she listens to punk music. Although she feigns disinterest, Valerie sneaks into Frankie’s camera, looking at pictures of their new family on his phone. Her mother begins dating as well; her divorce attorney, Mel, becomes a romantic interest for her. For Valerie, though, things at school remain the same; even though she and Duce call a truce, they still ignore each other at school. Valerie remains alone until she hears of Ginny Baker’s attempted suicide.Valerie races to the hospital to see Ginny.

Part 3, Chapter 39 Summary

At the hospital and fearful to leave her real name, Valerie lies her way into Ginny’s room; surprisingly, Ginny lets her stay when Dr. Dentley, Valerie’s former in-patient psychiatrist, comes to her room. Once alone with Valerie, Ginny opens up to Valerie. She remembers, “‘When Nick first moved here, we were friends,’ Ginny said out of the blue, breaking the silence. ‘He was in my homeroom freshman year’” (368). She adds how smart and nice she thinks Nick was, which Valerie needs to hear, in order to validate her own sense of Nick’s character.

During the exchange, Ginny cries, tears streaming down her scarred face, marred by the many reconstructive surgeries that have failed to restore her once-beautiful features. As Valerie wipes her tears, Ginny says, “I think if I hadn’t ever been friends with Nick, Chris would have ignored him. He was so mean to Nick all the time” (369). She states she should have either not been friends with Nick or never dated Chris; then, she would at least have them both alive. Ginny also admits she went to the police station with Jessica to exonerate Valerie, even though it was against her parent’s wishes. Valerie leaves Ginny’s room, promising to return.

Part 3, Chapters 38-39 Analysis

While visiting Ginny, Valerie has an awkward run-in with Ginny’s mother. In an observation likely universal among grieving mothers, Valerie notes that Ginny’s mom looked “like she hadn’t slept in years,” similar to Valerie’s own mother (367). As she exits the room, Ginny’s mother curtly considers thanking Valerie for stopping the shooting, but doesn’t actually do it, an omission not lost on Valerie.

Valerie reflects that Ginny saw the good in Chris when Valerie could not, making Ginny a really special person and totally undeserving of being on any hate list. Ginny confesses, “I wanted to die ever since Nick did this to me” (370); she feels this way because people talk behind her back, saying that she was pretty once. Ginny says, “Being pretty isn’t everything, but sometimes being ugly is” (371). This indicates that some people can move on from tragedy and be grateful for a second chance, but others may not be able to recover. It also shows Valerie that she and Ginny have a bit in common: both losing boyfriends and being friends with Nick. Ginny personifies the lasting torment of the shooting that Principle Angerson and Angela Dash’s articles work hard to cover up.