May is a slut. She is starting a new school where no one knows her, with the goal of changing. May grows emotionally across the arc of the book, but she is also thrown into a class called "Critical Thinking", so she grows cognitively. That class is one of several repeating motifs, including that her father has a parallel problem with occasional binge drinking.

This is written in what I call Simple Phrase Grammar. The character of May could not be created without it; scenes, and emotional reactions could not be adroitly described without it. Exploring this book should be required reading for writers and grammarians.

This takes a stab at differences between males and females, especially in her advice to girls at the school for how to attract a guy they like.

This is not pornographic. Details of a sex scene are described as needed, and she does sometimes try to be erotic.

Pain : I'm walking in a crowd in the hallway, a hand rubs my butt, someone laughs. I turn around to see who did it, all the guys are smirking, all the girls are looking at me with contempt, everyone thinks I deserved that, I don't know who's guilty, someone behind me whispers "trash", I whirl around, I can't tell who said that either.
Insight: When I try to be a better person, it's easier on the people who have to live with me.
Love: We sit, two broken people, finding a tiny grace in each other's hug.
Humor: Sending a guy a subtle signal is like flossing with Kleenex.