May 29, 2023
When her cousin Sophie dies from an opioid overdose, Maryland high school junior Hannah is devastated and bewildered; she and her family have no idea how or why Sophie had the pills. Seeking answers, Hannah collaborates with Sophie’s best friend Gabi to conceal her true identity behind a new look and enroll in Sophie’s prestigious private school, hoping to find the classmate Hannah believes gave Sophie the drugs. Though initially scornful of her new schoolmates’ wealth and privilege, the last thing Hannah expects to find at Ingleside Country Day School is a thoughtful companion in former debate competitor Christian Dailey. The nonlinear timeline—rendered in Hannah’s wry first-person voice and detailing events from before and after Sophie’s death—occasionally slows the pace of this tense novel, but nevertheless provides insight into Hannah’s motivations. Avoiding pat answers, Lord (The Map from Here to There) convincingly conveys the grief that Hannah feels over Sophie’s death, depicting via Hannah’s charade the lengths to which one might go when seeking healing and closure. Main characters read as white; context clues suggest racial diversity among the supporting cast. Ages 13–up. Agent: Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary.
June 1, 2023
A young woman struggles to accept the death of her cousin. Smart, ambitious Hannah is blindsided when Sophie, the person she was closest to in the world, dies of an opioid overdose in a bathroom at a party at the beginning of her junior year in their Maryland town. Hannah had no idea Sophie was using and is lost in a haze of disbelief and sorrow. Narrated in the first person by Hannah, this poignant novel moves back and forth in time between the events of her junior and senior years, detailing a plan she and Gabi, Sophie's best school friend, hatch to discover who sold Sophie the drugs. It details what unfolds when Hannah, previously scornful of prestigious private school Ingleside Country Day, which her wealthier cousin attended, decides to transfer there. The result is a mystery storyline that blends for the most part smoothly with an effective and achingly real exploration of the ripple effects of the grief felt by all who loved Sophie. This eventually leads to Hannah's greater understanding of herself and the futility people often face in looking for individual villains when it comes to substance use disorder. The book also touches on how this epidemic affects different communities. An appealing romantic subplot between Hannah and her debate rival will pull readers in. Hannah and Sophie are cued White; there is ethnic diversity among secondary characters. An engrossing, thoughtful depiction of a tragedy. (Fiction. 14-18)
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Starred review from June 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* During her junior year of high school, Hannah MacLaren is a focused public-school student, an accomplished debater, an art lover, and a long-distance runner. Though they inhabit different universes, her favorite person is her cousin Sophie, who attends the much more posh Ingleside Country Day School and dreams about saving the world on a macro level. At the end of Hannah's senior year, she's an Ingleside student sitting in the headmaster's office on prom night after ruining the event--and possibly her future. In the year between, Hannah's whole world exploded: Sophie died of an opioid overdose at an Ingleside party when Hannah, who knew her best, didn't even know she was fighting substance-abuse disorder. Overwhelmed by her grief, Hannah all but abandons her own carefully planned life to find a place to put her anger: someone got Sophie hooked on opioids. There's more than a touch of Veronica Mars here--smart, prickly Hannah's Ingleside investigation is single-minded in its sorrow, and the story often follows the beats of a mystery. Lord alternates between Hannah's junior and senior years in chapters that shift in length and tone so quickly they cause whiplash. Despite this, Lord never loses focus on the human story behind the grief and the crisis, and this remains a tender, unsensational examination of what it means to love, to lose, and to live.
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Starred review from September 1, 2023
Gr 9 Up-The summer before their junior year of high school, Hannah's cousin Sophie dies from a drug overdose at a party. Utterly devastated, Hannah begins a relentless search into who gave Sophie the pills that caused her death. When she partners up with Sophie's best friend from school, who is also hunting down this mysterious person, the two hatch a plan: Hannah will transfer into their fancy private school for senior year in order to secretly investigate their remaining suspects. But will their search for answers provide healing and closure, or will it tear all of their relationships apart? This is an engrossing and poignant exploration of grief. Told in alternating time lines of Hannah's junior and senior years, the mystery of how Sophie got the pills that ended her life unfolds deliberately, but readers remain nonetheless engaged in unraveling clues alongside Hannah while also watching this obsession slowly ruin her. The major and minor characters all have depth, and the issues of substance addiction and abuse are explored in a nuanced and caring light. Empathetic teens will definitely be in tears by the end. VERDICT An important book to have in a high school collection, this is highly recommended.-Chelsey Masterson
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