An immersive, bracing mystery with a big heart.
A teenage crush gets interrupted by a horrible murder in this debut YA novel.
It’s the summer of 1962. Eighteen-year-old Paul Dawson just needs to make it through his senior year of high school and then he can leave suburban Caroline Hills in upstate New York behind to become a writer. Until then, he’s stuck lying in his bedroom, playing Roy Orbison songs over and over, and daydreaming about what it would be like to have a girlfriend. His handsome twin brother, Bobby, doesn’t have that problem. He’s the star quarterback; he’s dating the head cheerleader; and he’s also seeing Betty Jo Randall on the side. Then, one day, the perfect girl for Paul appears out of the blue and moves in right next door. “In another life, she must have been a mermaid,” thinks Paul, spying on her over the fence. “Someone that lovely can’t be just anybody. The sky gave her his grey blue eyes. Her rippling red hair cascades down her back like a waterfall. The wind loves her hair. I have never seen a girl let the wind have a way with her hair if she could help it before.” Jenny Winters has just moved in with her grandmother in Caroline Hills after her mother—with whom she’s never had a great relationship—kicked her out of the house for reasons the young woman would prefer not to talk about. Paul will do anything to hang out with Jenny, and she will do anything to stir up some trouble, which is how the two end up breaking into the lake house of the local doctor on the Fourth of July. The same day, Betty Jo is raped and killed—and Bobby is the obvious suspect. But Paul and Jenny think they may have seen the actual murderer, though they’ll need proof if anyone is going to believe them. Can the two outsiders crack the case open and save the town from a killer? And can Paul figure out a way to win the heart of his emotionally unavailable crush?
Williams’ prose is lively and smooth. While many of the characters feel like types, she imbues them with energy and humor that make them fresh. The narration shifts between Paul and Jenny, who are both delightfully angst-y, albeit in different ways. Here, Paul panics when Jenny instigates some spontaneous skinny-dipping at the lake: “I empty my pockets. I throw out my wallet, my pocket knife, my admission tickets to the fair, and some folded pieces of paper. I take off my socks and shoes….I pull off my belt so slowly. I don’t know what to do. What would Bobby do? Oh, hell. He’d already be in the lake now.” The characterization, especially the richness of the protagonists’ inner lives, helps the novel to feel bigger than its mystery plot. The author manages to capture the promise and danger of being young, particularly the dynamic of a teenage relationship where one person has lived a lot more life than the other. Readers will look forward to Williams’ future offerings.
An immersive, bracing mystery with a big heart.Pub Date: March 12, 2023
ISBN: 9798987360705
Page Count: 467
Publisher: Elizabeth Storyteller
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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