A sophisticated and suspenseful debut.
Things haven’t been the same for high school senior Jill Newman since her best friend was murdered.
Three years ago, Graham Calloway confessed to killing his girlfriend, Shaila Arnold. Now he’s in a juvenile facility, and Jill is starting senior year at Long Island’s Gold Coast Prep without her dearest friend. Luckily, Jill has Nikki Wu, whom she’s grown close to since Shaila’s death; her sweet boyfriend, Henry; and, of course, the Players, an exclusive club that all but guarantees an easy ride to a successful future. Jill, an aspiring astronomer who attends Gold Coast on a scholarship, must help choose the next round of freshman Player recruits while also securing desperately needed scholarship money for college. When Graham’s sister, Rachel, texts Jill with claims of Graham’s innocence, Jill reluctantly agrees to help. What if he actually is innocent? As Jill digs for the truth, she must come to terms with her own complicity in the Players’ culture of misogyny and casual cruelty and realizes that Shaila might have been keeping explosive secrets. Goodman deftly explores the complex nature of friendship, privilege, grief, and the often crushing expectations placed on teens, all of which dovetails neatly with a twisty murder mystery. Most characters seem to be white except for Nikki, who emigrated with her family from Hong Kong; Jill is Jewish. There is queer representation in the supporting cast.
A sophisticated and suspenseful debut. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11429-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
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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