PAPER HEART

Tess, whose BFF, Colette, died accidentally in Tornado Brain (2020), is severely afflicted with grief and guilt.

The 13-year-old has returned with her cousins’ family to a cabin in Wyoming where she, her twin sister, and Colette spent an idyllic summer the previous year. But with her friend gone just two and a half months, her pain is palpable. Complicating matters is the fact that her loving mother provides far more attention to Tess’ twin, Frankie, who is on the autism spectrum. Tess, a talented artist, has enrolled in a summer art camp where she is befriended by a boy called Izzy. At first he has no idea what’s causing her intense suffering, but he’s both supportive and kind. That’s far less true of fellow camper Jackie, who’s had a crush on Izzy for years and will do anything to undermine Tess. The mostly White cast is richly depicted, but it’s Tess’ believable, disabling grief that is the focus: Convinced that an angry and accusing Colette may be haunting her, Tess’ thoughts are constantly interrupted by a cruel inner voice, and she responds by biting her fingernails and cuticles, leaving her fingers raw and bleeding. With help from her supportive aunt, Izzy, and even imperturbable Frankie, by summer’s end Tess makes tentative steps toward healing, progress that readers will welcome.

An engaging tale of grief and the power of friendship.