Twisted is Laurie Halse Anderson's fifth novel out of six, which was published on March 20, 2007. The novel was awarded in 2008 for ALA Best Book for Young Adults and made New York Times bestseller's list in 2007.

Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of Tyler Miller's unfortunate and unlucky life during his senior year in high school.

Miller's life is turned upside down after he spray paints his school during his junior year in high school to have his label changed from a nobody to a somebody. His summer is spent doing construction and being put on probation, instead of being put into a juvenile hall. With his summer job, he gains muscle, a tan, and the stereotype of being a bad-boy, which attracts his crush of several years, Bethany. Through out his senior year, Miller struggles with everyone holding a grudge against him and thinking because of his crime, he can do nothing right. The novel is written from this point and continues into the rest if his senior year, ups and downs.

The author writes a lot about Tyler Miller's crush on Bethany, although she is a main character, Anderson does little to describe her. This leaves the readers mind wandering on what is so great about this girl his is crazy about. Also, in the book, Miller's best friend Yoda has a crush on Miller's younger sister, the author rushes into their relationship in a few pages. One second, Yoda is talking about how much he likes Miller's younger sister, and the next, he is attending all of Miller's sister's games and cuddling with her in the back seat of his car.

The author does do a very good job of describing Miller, she describes his new image and his old image, this way you can picture in your head how much he has changed. Also the author does an amazing job of telling you what Miller is thinking during the book. In almost every chapter there is a paragraph told by Miller on what he is feeling at that exact moment, nervous, scared, ecstatic, etc.

This book is mainly written for teenage students in middle school and in high school. Tyler Miller's story goes into detail from what he is feeling when his crush, Bethany, talks to him, to the anger he feels towards his father and Bethany's older brother Chip.

Twisted tells an amazing example of the life quote “Never judge a book by it's cover”. Throughout the book, Miller is accused of many things for the crime he committed in the beginning of the book, giving him his bad reputation. Although he may or may not have done what he is accused for, nobody believes his excuses or pleads for forgiveness.

I believe Anderson's way of confronting the issue is very realistic, and something many teens are able to relate to. Human beings make mistakes at least once in a life time, some may hold grudges against each other, and some may not. As a teenager, I feel as if I am put under a microscope and watched until I make a mistake. After making a minor to major mistake, it takes a while to gain the trust back of the person my mistake effected. This is exactly what Miller is put through his senior year.

This roller coaster of events grabs your attention, Twisted is a novel that you never want to put down.