Author Janet Tashjian has penned a thought-provoking novel for young adults in Fault Line. Tackling the troublesome issue of teenage girls involved in abusive relationships with boyfriends, Tashjian's research led to the development of believable characters struggling with the consequences of this form of violence. Becky and Kip are high school seniors that meet, not in school, but in a comedy club in San Francisco, where they take turns with other aspiring comics honing their skills and hoping to be discovered. Becky is portrayed as a great student that capably juggles school, work, and a steady stream of unpaid gigs in pursuit of a career in comedy. Her greatest weakness as a performer, in her estimation, is her inability to trust her own instincts. She eventually learns that this skill is valuable not only on stage, but in all of life.
Kip is a confident young comic with great jokes, but it is his sensitivity and insight that impresses Becky most. Eight months into a very intense relationship that shuts out friends and family, Becky realizes that Kip also has a serious problem. To Tashjian's credit, Kip is not painted as a one-dimensional monster; his good qualities add to the conflict Becky feels when the abuse begins. Becky's parents and Kip's mother are portrayed as reasonable, supportive, and concerned.
Medical professionals believe that at least one out of every five teenage girls are abused by boyfriends, with most thinking that it is their faults, it will get better, or there is no way out. Fault Line is an absorbing, easy read that will help young people identify the signs and unacceptability of abuse in their own circles. The novel will serve its purpose as leisure reading or as the basis of group discussions.

High school senior Becky and her best friend Abby are aspiring comediennes who work on their material and stand before San Francisco audiences to deliver it a few times a week. At one event, Becky meets Kip. She has not attracted a boy's attention like this before, and soon they are inseparable. But Kip begins to grow possessive and violent. Most of the time, though, he is wonderful and Becky loves him. What should she do?

Janet Tashjian, author of the wonderful THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY, builds suspense in this realistic title. The story of Becky and Kip is set against Becky's fascinating stand-up career. Readers will see that anyone can find himself or herself in this situation. A note from the author at the end cites a study from the Journal of the American Medical Assocation where "one in every five" teenage girls is physically abused by her boyfriend, showing that the subject needs more discussion.

Becky is not simply a wimp who submissively goes along with an abusive boyfriend. It's not black-and-white, and Tashjian does a good job of providing three-dimensional characters who readers will care about. Becky and Kip are in love, and she is more confused than anything else. But she cannot live a normal life while she is with him. When she is asked to go on a tour of comics that will be filmed for MTV, she honestly thinks Kip will be happy and supportive. When things come to a dangerous head, readers will not be surprised.

FAULT LINE is an excellent book that should be both read and discussed.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

I was surprised by this book....I didn't read the cover first so I was sucked in right along with Becky Martin when she meets Kip at the comedy club.... I thought that he was a sweet guy and that it was so great that she found somebody.... I got so frustrated while reading how Kip disinegrates into an abusive boyfriend....I did like it how Tashijian showed the relationship from both points of view.... good book, might want to read with a stress ball to squeeze when you start to get frustrated though

"I looked her in the eye, dead-on. 'We love each other. It's that simple.'
"This time [Mom] looked as if she were hiding a smile. 'It's never that simple,' she said. 'Being in a relationship is the most complicated thing in the world.' "

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website:

"Teens are seriously at risk for dating violence. Research shows that physical or sexual abuse is a part of 1 in 3 high school relationships. In 95% of abusive relationships, men abuse women. However, young women can be violent, and young men can also be victims. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans teens are just as at risk for abuse in their relationships as anyone else. Abusive relationships have good times and bad times. Part of what makes dating violence so confusing and painful is that there is love mixed with the abuse. This can make it hard to tell if you are really being abused."

Health Canada's website notes:

"Jealousy is the most common reason for assaults in dating relationships. When a man continually accuses a woman of flirting or having an affair, and is suspicious of everyone he sees with her, he is possessive and controlling...Adolescent girls, in particular, feel social pressure to stick it out because having a 'bad' boyfriend is better than having no boyfriend at all."

Such facts and statistics certainly point out the need for good YA literature dealing with adolescent dating abuse. There have been a couple of great stories published in recent years, and Janet Tashjian's FAULTLINE, which hits the shelves in time for Back To School Night, joins that list of must-reads.

Becky Martin is a high achieving high school senior from San Francisco who is also an aspiring standup comic. She's got intelligent, supportive parents. Her best girlfriend, Abby, is also a comedic hopeful and a fan of old movies. But while Abby has a steady stream of boyfriends who come and go, Becky has spent high school high and dry:

"Friends and family have always described me as two things: smart and funny. Never pretty, never interesting, just smart and funny. I wasn't complaining--those were necessary qualities for my chosen line of work, but it would be nice to at least register on the attractiveness scale once in a while.
"Unlike Abby, I hadn't had a boyfriend since Peter last year, and even that was stretching the definition of boyfriend way past anything Webster would have recognized. I had better luck holding the attention of a roomful of people in a comedy club than a guy--I couldn't decide if that was good or just plain pathetic. Idea for a routine--in my neighborhood growing up, I was everybody else's invisible friend."

Enter Kip Costello, a fellow aspiring comic with talent, creativity, and looks. He sweeps Becky off her feet with his attention and his thoughtfulness. Things move quickly. Becky has school work, two part-time jobs, college applications, and her comedy career, but they all seem (at least to her parents and Abby) to be taking a back-seat to Kip.

According to Becky, nobody understands how special her relationship with Kip is.

But what Becky doesn't understand is that Kip is as lacking in self-confidence as she is. In a series of brief notes that Kip writes to himself (and that we get to read), Kip constantly worries about the relationship. His micromanagement of Becky's life and the inherent frustration he feels when everything doesn't go perfectly results in his abusing her. But Becky is in too deep to listen to anybody--including herself.

"A relationship is a lot like a hot bath. The more you get used to it, the more you realize it's not so hot..."

FAULTLINE is a great title for this important book because (1) it's set in San Francisco, and (2) there is no bad guy, no one at fault, unless it is that system that compels adolescents "to stick it out because having a 'bad' boyfriend is better than having no boyfriend at all." I'm sure they briefly considered PUNCHLINE, but discarded it as too insensitive a pun for too serious a situation.

But that serious situation does not mean that FAULTLINE is one long downer of a book. The camaraderie between Becky and Abby is genuine. We like these two intelligent and comedic girls and can see why they like each other. Becky's part-time gig as a tour guide to the City's movie landmarks is also fun and really informative. And then there is Delilah, about whom I'll say no more then that she gives the book a San Francisco homeyness that us Northern California crazies will thoroughly appreciate and enjoy.

Many people have wondered how Janet Tashjian would follow up the wildly successful THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY. While FAULTLINE is a very different novel, Tashjian is again able to look closely at a serious problem in our society while telling a story filled with smart humor that teens will devour.