A highly intelligent teen lays out all the reasons she has been wrongly accused of a crime.
Hannah knows it’s a mistake that she’s been institutionalized. She and her friend Agnes were just playing games, and it’s a terrible tragedy that Agnes fell out of a second-story window. All Hannah wants is to be at her friend’s bedside, but instead she’s stuck in this mental institution being questioned daily by Dr. Lightfoot and kept separate from all the other patients. It’s not until she gains a roommate, Lucy, that Hannah begins to connect with someone, and soon she is allowed small excursions out of her room for lunch and showers. Finally she has someone she can take care of and guide, as she did Agnes, while she waits for the error of her involuntary commitment to be rectified. She’s confident that everything will be taken care of soon. It becomes clear early on that something is off about Hannah’s account of the summer school program where she met Agnes, who later became her best friend, and about the night Agnes fell. It’s just a question of exactly which parts of her story we can trust and which we can’t. Hannah is white by default (as is Agnes) and Jewish, Lucy is coded Latinx, and there is some diversity in secondary characters.
Not an astoundingly surprising plot but a respectful, authentic rendering of mental illness and treatment nonetheless. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6724-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
32
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Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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