THE LAST THING YOU SAID

The first summer after Trixie’s death is a hard one for all the families who knew her, especially for her best friend, Lucy, and Trixie’s brother, Ben.

Though they were close when Trixie was alive, now that she’s gone they can’t seem to find a way to be together that doesn’t hurt. So the two white teens try to stay away from each other. But that’s not easy in their small Minnesota town, especially when they both work for the same family at a lakeside resort. Will they ever be able to find their way back to the comfort and love that existed between them before a bad case of survivors’ guilt made everything inescapably sad? Lucy’s cute new neighbor and Ben’s habit of using girls to distract him from his feelings make the situation even more complicated. Biren’s debut novel offers a tender look at a particular moment in the lives of two teens, a moment that feels real and uncontrived. Her book begins after the tragedy, and Biren proves deft at filling in the back story without overshadowing the problems of the present. New friends and young cousins provide some levity and comic relief that work well against the backdrop of raw emotion.

The best kind of tragic love story.