THE COUNSELORS

An idyllic Vermont summer camp for rich kids turns deadly.

When summer arrives, 18-year-old townie Goldie Easton can’t wait for Ava and Imogen, her two best friends, to return to Alpine Lake. Goldie’s parents work at the camp every summer, so Goldie has always been able to attend for free—something that sets her apart from the rest of the uber-wealthy campers, including Ava and Imogen. This year, the summer before they’re supposed to head off to college, they’re working as counselors and lifeguards. The girls have an unbreakable bond, but they’ve all been keeping secrets: Goldie’s never told them that she took the rap for a car accident that killed one of her classmates in order to protect Heller, her boyfriend, who’d been driving drunk. But just before the campers arrive, Heller is found dead in the lake—and as the weeks unfold, Goldie begins to believe someone killed him. Goodman’s depictions of the tensions between the girls and between residents of the camp and the town are well-drawn with admirable complexity. The teens drink and have sex yet still delight in cookie patrols and in braiding each other’s hair. Some of the less-important relationships, especially Goldie’s with her parents, don’t make as much sense, but readers will hardly notice as the plot zips along. Most main characters are White; Imogen is Japanese and White.

Atmospheric, intelligent, and interesting.