Valerie Leftman, 16 at the time of the shooting, lives with her mother, Jenny, her father, Ted, and younger brother, Frankie, in a largely upper-middle-class suburb in the Midwest. She is the first-person limited narrator and protagonist of Hate List. Before sixth grade, Valerie was a typical girl, listening to popular music and hanging out with other girls like her. However, Valerie notes, “somewhere around sixth grade, all of that seemed to change. I began to look around me and think that maybe I didn't have all that much in common with those other kids” (132). She notices how close and happy other children and their parents are, while her parents’ relationship toward each other and toward her seems strained. As her parents’ marriage crumbles and the fighting escalates, Valerie starts to experiment with her identity, taking on a darker persona and dressing in dark, purposefully destroyed clothing. She wears heavy eyeliner and listens to angry music.

Her school life deteriorates simultaneously: her childhood bully, Christy Bruter, becomes more popular as Valerie becomes less so. Her father takes refuge from his unhappy home life in his work, typically ignoring Valerie and her mother, who, despondent over her failing marriage, picks on her daughter about her looks and choices.