Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses pedophilia, rape, child sexual abuse and violence, possible incest, suicide ideation, and death by suicide.

Many of the checks and balances against sex offenders are necessary and created to protect children from predators; however, the novel suggests that this system can be improved if it works with offenders on a case-to-case basis. In other words, if offenders are treated as individuals, justice may be delivered more fairly. In an illuminating sequence, when Adrianne and Noah go to register Noah in the sex offender registry, they are met with disgust, suggesting Noah’s punishment is ongoing. A humiliated Adrianne notes that Noah continues to be ostracized though he has served his sentence. Worse, being on the registry means Noah’s offense is revealed to every prospective school and employer, biasing them against him. Though the goal of rehabilitation was “success in helping the convicted teen live a prosocial life without further legal involvement” (92), this goal feels difficult to achieve considering the automatic bias resulting from the label of sex offender. Noah cannot be prosocial when the disclosure of the registry marks him as different from society, as if he has a “a scarlet letter branded on his forehead” (92).