Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG13 (kissing; girls stop Christian from taking it further, teen alcohol use); Violence: PG13 (drownings off-page, description of dead body, talk of forensics, self harm, description of murder)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
It's the end of Christian's summer before his senior year, and his best friend James, invites him to come back to Arizona for a river rafting trip. When he gets there, he finds James has two other friends and a girlfriend there. Christian does not approve of the amount of alcohol the boys are consuming, and he gets on the river despite James "forgetting" to bring life jackets. When the inevitable happens, and Freya - the girlfriend drowns, the police rule it an accident and Christian returns to Minnesota. But he can't get Freya out of his mind, and the drowning becomes an obsession.
Usually Bowling's books are middle school appropriate; this one is solidly YA even though the content is mild (no swearing, no sex other than kissing) but James is a bad dude, and Christian is messed up by all of this and is making some really bad choices. About midway through the book, I didn't even like Christian anymore. The twists were unexpected, and the suspense was maintained, so it's a good mystery. I prefer her books for the younger readers, I guess.
Christian is white.
Lisa Librarian
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