SLINGSHOT

Gracie defends the new boy with her slingshot, marking the beginning of a transformative semester.

Before winter break, sophomore Gracie Welles’ heart is broken. Her biology teacher, Mr. Sorrentino, announces his engagement, destroying the illusion of a connection she’s imagined. She leaves boarding school to visit her fantasy-prone mother. Her financially supportive but physically absent father has another family; they don’t know about the existence of Gracie and her 34-year-old mom, and Gracie worries that someday she’ll end up trapped in love purgatory like her mother. She brings her slingshot back to school with her, a comfort object from a difficult childhood. Soon she puts it to use: Witnessing some seniors ganging up on a new boy, she lets loose some very carefully aimed gravel. Gracie escapes with the victim, Wade Scholfield, and after some persistence on his part, they become friends. As they grow closer, Gracie pushes him away; she’s terrified of being in love. But some things are inevitable, and Gracie finds herself on a rocky path toward realizing her feelings and growing into an entirely different person than the one once obsessed with her teacher. Gracie’s a powerhouse: incredibly acerbic, prone to lashing out, and painfully relatable. She and Wade are magnetic together, but it’s Gracie’s carefully drawn growth that buoys her story into one that is truly memorable. All major characters are White.

Wildly real and bursting with all the romance and pain of coming into oneself.