In this disturbing psychological thriller, a lonely teen seeking attention gets more than she bargained for when her former friend is murdered. Sixteen-year-old Evie has no friends and zero social life except a naïve crush on college-dropout Jonah, who removes dead animals from the woods behind the development where Evie delivers newspapers every Sunday. After Jonah discovers the body of her classmate Zabet in the woods, Evie pretends the girl was her best friend, attracting the interest of Zabet’s real best friend, Hadley. One of the class “bad girls,” Hadley lures Evie into her obsessive campaign to find Zabet’s killer. Too late, Evie realizes the disturbed Hadley has targeted Jonah, with devastating results. Evie tells her dark, troubled story in the first person, present tense, allowing readers to experience her isolation, her schoolgirl attraction to Jonah, her desperate need for attention, her confused response to Hadley’s irrational behavior and, eventually, her raw fear, shock and horror when she learns the truth. A nail-biter packed with palpable suspense and enough violence to suit it for stronger stomachs. (Thriller. 14 & up)
Pub Date: June 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8118-7175-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
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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