Five years ago, in a sleepy Long Island town, five cheerleaders died within one month’s time. Two were killed in a car accident, two were murdered and one killed herself. Tragic coincidence or a planned attack? That’s what 16-year-old Monica Rayburn is trying to uncover. Her sister, Jen, was the cheerleader who died by suicide.

And on the anniversary of the girls’ deaths, Monica feels like her own life is unraveling. She’s recovering from an abortion, and the man she had been sleeping with is now a coach at her high school. But when she learns that her police officer stepfather is hiding crucial evidence regarding the murders, she begins to wonder if the wrong person went down for the crime.

When Monica discovers Jen’s old cellphone locked in her stepfather’s desk drawer, she begins an investigation of her own. Just as Monica fiercely guards her secrets, so did the cheerleaders. But which secret got them killed?

Unanswered questions and lingering doubts regarding Jen’s death propel Monica to follow all leads like a seasoned private investigator, but she still juggles typical teen concerns such as dance team, friend squabbles and an understandably tense home life. Author Kara Thomas (The Darkest Corners) is adept at crafting satisfyingly dark YA thrillers. While the cover art feels campy, the story within is packed with complex characters, tightly plotted threads and last-page twists. Readers won’t be disappointed.

“Heretics are usually true believers. The only thing more dangerous than someone who doesn’t care about the rules is someone who does—and wants to break them anyway.”

So begins 16-year-old Michael’s introduction to a secret underground club at St. Clare’s—his exclusive new Catholic school—known as Heretics Anonymous. Michael’s career-driven father has recently uprooted the family yet again—thus breaking his promise to Michael and his younger sister, Sophia—and has insisted on sending Michael to St. Clare’s for his junior year. As an avowed atheist, Michael has a bumpy start at the school as he tries to navigate Catholic traditions, but he fits in well with the other misfits in the club: a Jewish kid, a Wiccan and a girl named Lucy who wants to become a Catholic priest.

At first, Heretics Anonymous meetings serve as a place for the teens to complain about St. Clare’s restrictive rules. But at Michael’s urging, the club begins to take on an activist role. The Heretics secretly interrupt the annual abstinence assembly with a video that contains facts about sexual health, and later they encourage their fellow students to creatively interpret the school’s dress code.

The Heretics’ high jinks provide Michael with a distraction from his home life: His father is perpetually away on business, and when he is home, he and Michael are constantly at odds, and his mother’s attempts to keep her family together grate on Michael. In the meantime, the Heretics attend their share of awkward teen parties, and Michael and Lucy begin to act on their simmering attraction to one another.

But soon the club starts to get out of hand. At what point do the Heretics’ protests do more harm than good? And has Michael been drawing the wrong conclusions about his father all along?

Debut author Katie Henry writes with a deep respect for the religious beliefs her characters simultaneously adore and eschew. Lucy’s devotion to a tradition that will never meet her expectations is particularly sensitively drawn. Pick up this funny yet thoughtful young adult novel if you’re ready to question your own assumptions about family, friendship and faith.

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

BookPage Teen Top Pick, August 2018

If you ask me, there’s no better time to read a good old-fashioned survival story than at the height of summer, when long, lazy days and warm nights might make readers long for some heart-pounding humans-versus-wilderness drama.

Kate Alice Marshall’s I Am Still Alive certainly fits the bill, though there’s really nothing old-fashioned about it, since its themes and structures are boldly contemporary. The novel’s first half is divided into alternating sections titled “Before” and “After,” as 16-year-old Jess Cooper recounts how and why she came to live in a remote area of Canada with her estranged father, and how she’s been surviving in the days since his sudden murder and the destruction of everything that had been keeping her small family alive in this beautiful but unforgiving place.

By the time these two timelines merge midway through the novel, readers are bound to be thoroughly invested in Jess’ survival, made even more harrowing due to a painful disability that forces Jess to work twice as hard—and be at least twice as smart—as someone with two fully functioning legs. I Am Still Alive is full of the kinds of backcountry details that will intrigue fans of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet and its ilk, from finding and killing food to making shelter, and there’s plenty of high-stakes conflict with humans and animals alike. But Marshall’s thrilling tale is also a deeply moving story about coming to terms with imperfections (both in oneself and in others) and about finding true resourcefulness and inner strength.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Kate Alice Marshall about I Am Still Alive.
 

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In Erin Callahan’s The Art of Escaping, escapology is defined as the art of breaking free from locks, chains, straitjackets and water tanks along with dodging sharp arrows aimed at your heart. For some teens, there’s no better metaphor for high school.

For 17-year-old Mattie, it isn’t a metaphor. The summer before her senior year, Mattie convinces Miyu Miyake, the reclusive adult daughter of a famous Japanese escape artist, to teach her the practice made famous by Harry Houdini and Dorothy Dietrich. All summer long, Miyu instructs Mattie in how to pick locks, how to hold her breath underwater and how to conquer her fear of the spotlight. But while Mattie is bending hairpins and training in ponds, she is also learning how to be herself. With her best (and only) friend, Stella, away at nerd camp, Mattie soon finds herself in an unexpected friendship with fellow misfit Will, who, unlike Mattie, doesn’t outwardly seem like a misfit at all.

Both Mattie and Will—and later Frankie, a third friend who joins their wayward band—love the sights, sounds and even textures of the 1920s, and their story is peppered with the slang of the era, jazz music, vintage dresses and speak-easies populated by bohemian audiences. Yet even as these historical references are celebrated and romanticized, they’re simultaneously critiqued as Mattie enrolls in a history class designed to question the nature of how history is discussed. In the end, metaphor blends with reality, text blends with interpretation, and Mattie, Will and those around them just might escape from the restraints that are holding them back from being their true selves.

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Miranda and Syd have been best friends for as long as they can remember. Both abandoned by their mothers, they swore an oath that they would be each other’s person forever. So when Syd runs away midway through senior year, Miranda is left anchorless. As she tries to discover where Syd went and why—all while navigating college decisions and her first love with Nick, the boy she’s had a crush on for ages—she realizes it’s time to step out of her best friend’s shadow and figure out who she is on her own.

I’m Not Missing is a powerful debut novel about a young girl dealing with devastating loss and ultimately finding herself. An award-winning poet, author Carrie Fountain has a knack for crisp prose, which is evident in her vivid depictions of the New Mexico landscape. But her biggest strength is the realism of her characters and their relationships with one another. Miranda’s budding romance with Nick will feel utterly relatable to any reader who’s bumbled through first love, and the evolution of Miranda’s friendship with Syd is equal parts heartwarming and painful in the way only a changing friendship can be. Fountain also explores drastically different family relationships in Miranda’s, Syd’s and Nick’s home lives. Readers will see themselves or people they know on every page.

I’m Not Missing is a must-read for any teen who’s felt the pain of lost friendship and the challenge of finding herself.

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Laila Piedra is a senior in high school, facing down the final weeks before graduation, when everything in her life goes sideways. For years, she has enjoyed the encouragement of her creative writing teacher, Mr. Madison, who is the only person with whom she shares her sci-fi stories. Writing and being with her three best friends is the entirety of Laila’s world. She doesn’t cause problems and she’s never been on a date, much less in love. But Laila is (mostly) happy.

When Mr. Madison gets in an accident and is replaced by a prize-winning novelist, Laila isn’t prepared for the avalanche of changes. Readers will think they already know the trajectory of Laila’s path: new teacher helps protagonist become a better writer. The reader would be correct, but only to a point, as author Riley Redgate (Noteworthy) surprises us with a heart-wrenching twist.

Final Draft may be filled with the high school angst and self-discovery that’s expected of young adult novels, but the story is deliciously elevated by its emotional depth and Redgate’s snarky prose. With the book’s explorations of sex and some adult language, the publisher’s age recommendation of 13 and up may not be true for all, but Final Draft should be a must-have for high school libraries.

This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.