An absorbing mystery that explores friendship, grief, mental health, and wordplay.
Returning to the Scrabble tournament where her best friend died a year earlier conjures up lingering trauma for a teen competitor.
Sixteen-year-old Najwa Bakri has suffered from panic attacks, memory gaps, intrusive negative thoughts, and an obsession with her late friend Trina Low’s Instagram account. At last year’s Word Warrior Weekend, Trina collapsed and died in a high-stakes game, leaving her opponent, Josh Tan, the tournament winner. Trina, a wealthy, effervescent social media influencer, was dubbed the Queen of the Tiles for her Scrabble skills. Najwa, a short, chubby hijabi from Kuala Lumpur, has a passion for learning the meanings of words rather than just memorizing letter combinations like many contestants. Surrounded by their Scrabble circle—Josh; Mark, Trina’s boyfriend; nonbinary Shuba; Singaporean Ben, who had a crush on Trina; Emily, who was caught cheating during a game; Puteri, Mark’s ex-girlfriend; and Yasmin, Trina’s childhood friend—Najwa remembers her therapist’s advice and struggles to maintain emotional equilibrium. It’s bad enough when Instagram stories appear from Trina’s account containing scrambled letters spelling ominous words like REGICIDE and JANIFORM. But when Najwa starts receiving cryptic, chilling DMs supposedly from Trina, it’s even worse. Mark convinces her to join him in investigating whether Trina was actually murdered. The tense, evenly paced mystery unfolds against the fascinating backdrop of competitive Scrabble with a cast of well-rounded characters who reflect Malaysia’s ethnic diversity. Interesting game trivia and vocabulary add to the originality.
An absorbing mystery that explores friendship, grief, mental health, and wordplay. (Mystery. 12-18)Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-9455-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
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
SEEN & HEARD
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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