The entire book revolves around the beloved hockey coach's teenage daughter being raped by his star player at a high school party and everything that follows as the incident tears the town apart. It's a fantastic book (and wonderful series) and as a parent, I would view it appropriate for my high-school aged children to read any book in that series as I think Backman handles the issues so well and so realistically from the perspectives of the teens and the adults. That being said, every teacher who plans on teaching it should read it because they will spend a good portion of time discussing rape tramua, toxic culture, complicity, athletic culture, justice, etc. These are important discussions but not easy ones to have in the classroom. I also think these are classroom discussions that 11th and 12th graders are better suited to have than those in younger grades. And the teachers need to know that administration is on board and has their back with regard to its selection as a required read. Under the current circumstances, I don't believe Beartown would be approved as a required read in my school/town.
