Imagine being blackmailed by your teacher. In Bottled Up by Jaye Murray, Pip is being blackmailed by Mr. Giraldi, his principal. Pip is addicted to marijuana. He also drinks and smokes cigarettes. One day, he gets sent to Mr. Giraldi’s office. Mr. Giraldi decides that he’s going to suspend him because he doesn’t go to his classes and he doesn’t do any of his work either. Mr. Giraldi calls his dad to let him know that Pip is being expelled, but as soon as he dials Pip decides to hang up the phone. Pip is scared of how his dad is going to react. Mr. Giraldi decides that Pip will have to go to all of his classes and attend counseling. When he goes to counseling, he finds out he has to give a urine test. If it’s not clean then he can get kicked out of group. If he gets kicked out of group, Mr. Giraldi will call his dad and expel him. So what will Pip do? This book is a good book for anyone to read especially if you have problems at home and in school like Pip. I like how in the book the author puts what Pip is thinking or remembering. Like in one part it says, “I remember when I was a kid and I’d run around the house shutting all the windows so the neighbors wouldn’t hear my dad yelling. Yeah. I remember when I used to care what other people thought.” You will be able to connect to Pip’s life and how he sees things and feels about them. This book is a great example of how life isn’t easy. It teaches you that there are many problems in life just like all of the things Pip has to face in his life. It’s in Pip’s own hands to decide whether he wants to keep life as it is or make some drastic changes. Now will Pip be able to hand in a clean urine test?