Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

It's the start of a new school year for Billy Romero. But nothing has changed.

It's been five months since his father was killed in a car accident, and it's all he can do to get through the day without breaking down. His friends can't understand why he can't move on. After all, it happened LAST year. Billy thinks to himself, "Seventh grade was only three months ago, not a year ago!" Billy is still grieving and has withdrawn from most of his friends and has to see a shrink once a week.

But the start of eighth grade holds promise. After a race to the bus stop, he's forced to take the only available seat left on the bus, next to a girl he's never seen before. Before too long, Amy starts saving him a seat every day, and the two form a tentative friendship. And he's managed to land in Miss Gate's English class. She's the hot new teacher this year.

It isn't long before Miss Gate (or Tess, as she asks Billy to call her) takes an interest in Billy. It starts innocently enough, when Billy misses the bus home and she offers to drop him off at his house. She begins to encourage Billy to pursue his poetry after school. She confides in Billy that she too lost her father at a young age, and she's there for him if he needs support.

Through all of his encounters with Miss Gate, Billy slowly starts to emerge from his grief. He begins to force himself to venture out with his old friends, even surprising himself at how much fun he's been missing out on. Amy asks him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. And he's shocked when an old friend wants to just be around him because of his strength. Billy feels far from strong, but when he learns his friend's mother has cancer, he is there for the kind of support that no one else can offer him.

But something feels wrong to Billy, though he just can't put his finger on it. It isn't until the night that Miss Gate drives him to a regional poetry contest that it all comes to a head.

Mr. Logsted has stepped out from behind his author wife, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, to publish his first novel.

SOMETHING HAPPENED is a shockingly real look at how subtle gestures by someone in authority can slowly mount into something not quite right. Billy is aware that there is an undercurrent of something, but can't quite figure out why he feels uncomfortable with the situation.

The author quietly weaves Miss Gates' spell over Billy. The reader picks up on the crafty way Miss Gate is able to get Billy to spend more time with her alone. The story is a great reminder that there is danger even in places that are supposed to be safe. ( )

Something Happened, by Greg Logsted, wrote this fictional book about a thirteen year old boy who had a sexual encounter with his 33 year old teacher. When I first saw this book I thought it would be different. I assumed Billy, the main character, would be older and Tess, his teacher, younger. I think I would have liked it better, being a high school student myself, if Billy was older. His thought process and rationale at that age was so different than mine was that I had difficulty relating.
The way this book was written was interesting and shows everything from Billy’s point of view. Logsted even includes passages from Billy’s private journal to give extra insight into the person he is. He also uses wonderful analogies to express emotions and let the reader know exactly how Billy feels. I found myself paying excruciating attention to Tess’ behavior throughout the book. I found it interesting to watch her actions and trying to analyze her actions. The only aspect that disappointed me about the ending was that it wasn’t quite long enough. Logsted wrapped everything up and didn’t leave anything hanging, but he did it so quickly I felt rushed. It seemed like he was in a hurry to end it after the climax. This book teaches important lessons and I didn’t have to search long to find them. I would recommend this to anyone who just likes to read. It was an okay read and not bad if you aren’t looking for anything in particular.

I think because of the cover I assumed that Billy was a high school student of maybe 16 or 17, he was actually a 13 year old in 8th grade. I feel with student/teacher relationships it can go probably one or two ways. #1: The teacher is a predator and their student is the innocent prey or #2: The student isn't completely innocent and encourages the teacher's behavior. I would put Something Happened into the first category. To me, Billy was completely innocent. He was curious and confused but innocent.

This book definitely kept my attention, I had my eyes on Miss Gate/Tess the whole time waiting to see how she was going to behave around Billy. Waiting for that moment where something happens. Billy was so lost, he lost his father, his mother isn't around much and his friends just don't understand anymore. He found a friend in Tess, someone to talk to and someone to just have fun with. Always late for the bus, Billy always ends up sitting next to Amy on the bus and they slowly begin to form a friendship which becomes as important to him as his friendship with Tess. He finds himself trapped between Tess and Amy trying to keep them both happy. Tess's reaction to Billy being unable to attend a poetry group with her one evening is one of the first concrete glimpses of her true personality.

I really liked this book, I was very very very curious to see how it unfolded. I was not disappointed. The only thing that I found lacking was maybe a bit more to the ending, it was satisfying but wrapped up a bit too quick for me. ( )