Do Not Go out at Night by Francois Gravel & Martine Latulippe - ADVISABLE

Do Not Go out at Night by Francois Gravel & Martine Latulippe, 85 pages. Orca, 2026. $13 

Language: G (1 swear, 0 f); Mature Content:  PG (child murderer); Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

14yo Oliver and Maddy are inexplicably drawn to a construction site on their way to a party at night. They find a backpack with a tee shirt and compass before a security guard kicks them out. They find out they may have key evidence that could put their lives in danger. 

The layout, written in case file form, adds to the readability and suspense of the book. Orca books are good at getting right to the heart of a story and this one doesn't waste any time. The premise is interesting and even reluctant readers will be drawn in and able to finish. The characters default white

Michelle in the Middle 

The Steps by Wendelin Van Draanen - ADVISABLE

The Steps by Wendelin Van Draanen, 256 pages. Holiday House, 2025. $20.

Language: G (6 swears; 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (underage smoking, teenage pregnancy mentioned); Violence: PG-13  (mention of animal cruelty, attempted murder) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: MANY

14yo Ruby Vossen loves chess, Twinkies, and refusing to be like the rest of her dysfunctional family. Wealth has always made the Vossen family cutthroat, but after her mother and aunt die in a tragic car accident, family relationships go from bad to worse. Ruby’s uncle forbids her from contacting her cousin and best friend, Sterling, and her dad remarries a possible gold-digging murderer. Now Ruby has to share her home with “the steps” –  her stepsister and brother. When a call from her cousin sends Ruby digging deeper into family secrets, she is convinced someone is after her family’s fortune. Now, everyone’s life, including her own, might be on the line. 

VanDraanen’s mystery/thriller contains a lot of what makes Wendelin Van Draanen’s Sammy Keyes series so successful while appealing to an older audience. The chapters are short and action-packed, perfect for reluctant readers wanting something that will keep them turning pages. Most of the characters are well-written, but almost comically terrible people. Some of their schemes and neglectful behavior are so over-the-top it makes some events or reveals feel unrealistic. Ruby and her chess club friends are by far the most likable characters. You’ll spend the whole book rooting for them. While perhaps not for every school, this is a great book to fill that young-adult-mystery-with-little-to-no mature-content-or-language gap some schools might have.

All of the characters cue as white.

Emily Powell, junior high librarian

Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen - OPTIONAL

Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen, 352 pages. Random House, 2025. $20

Language: R (100+ swears, 5 ‘f’); Mature Content: G ; Violence: PG-13 (bullying, drownings)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

When their mother’s body is found, 14 years after she disappeared, 18yo Aria and Caliste find out, from first sight, that they are identical twins. Separated when their mother disappeared, Aria was raised poor by her aunt, while Caliste was raised rich by her father, who grew a grocery empire. While the girls get to know each other, they are struggling to deal with their mother’s death - and to connect it to the other mysterious deaths that have been happening in the area. The Hane family, which seems to own the small town of Les Eaux, seem to be intimately involved in everything to do with the girls’ family - even this, somehow.

Nguyen spends too much time setting up the girls’ lives - getting to their meeting more than 100 pages in. Once the book hits the town of Les Eaux, it picks up and starts really running. That first 100 pages, though , is why I can only rate it optional. The girls’ mother has her own story to tell as a Vietnamese Ma Da - a vengeful water spirit created when someone is drowned.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS 

They All Had a Secret by Michele Leathers - OPTIONAL

They All Had a Secret by Michele Leathers, 243 pages. Sourcebooks, 2026. $13 (pb)

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (kissing); Violence: PG (deaths mentioned)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Her name was Bellany, but she is on the run and reinvented herself as Charity, a lowly barista and a maid at a local hotel. She has her eye on Roy - the grandson of the holtelier. So what if he already has a girlfriend. “Charity” is beautiful and manipulative -sure she can get whatever she wants. She is even willing to leave a few bodies to get her way.

From the very start you can tell that Bellany is rotten to the core - selfish and self-serving. But no one comes out untainted here - just like the title says. Great twist right near the end. Glad it is in paperback - it might be worth a purchase.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS 

Lady or the Tiger by Heather M. Herrman - OPTIONAL

Lady or the Tiger by Heather M. Herrman, 336 pages. Penguin Random House, 2025. $20

Language: R (100+ swears, 6 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (Sexual references and discussion, sex vaguely described, underage drinking); Violence: R (Murder, abuse, sexual abuse, graphic imagery, animal cruelty)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Infamous outlaw 19yo Belle King enchants audiences with performances that embrace her dark, shadow side. Nicknamed the Seamstress, Belle is known for murdering men, removing their hearts, and replacing them with diamonds. Then in Kansas during the summer of 1886, she lets herself be arrested. As she awaits trial and the noose, her abusive husband whom she left for dead appears and attempts to get her released on the grounds of her prior institutionalization for insanity. However, Belle does not want him to have power over her again, even if it means her death. In a series of flashbacks, Belle reveals her past as Alice Springer, her escape from the asylum, her time with a troupe who performs before hangings, and her experiences with a tiger.

I was initially drawn to this novel because of its unique subversion of a classic Western. I was not let down as Belle is a complex, dynamic antihero. The novel also does not shy away from the mistreatment and abuse women faced during this time period. That being said, the beginning of the novel is a bit choppy with the nonlinear timeline which may discourage readers, and some of the later plot points seem far-fetched. Readers who stick with it will be rewarded with action, violence, and a surprising twist. Overall, it's much more than a Western; it’s an exploration of female autonomy, power, and accepting the dark within us.

A secondary character, Mary Darker, is Black.

Megan, HS Librarian 

The Silenced by Diana Rodriguez Wallach - SEVERAL

The Silenced by Diana Rodriguez Wallach, 384 pages. Delacorte Press (Random House), 2025. $20

Language: PG-13 (40 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (kissing); Violence: R (Physical and emotional abuse by parent and at the school for troubled teens; death)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

17yo Hazel feels like a loner in her school. She’s placed with Becca and her popular friends for a group homework assignment. They decide to research the local condemned school for troubled teens that closed about thirty years ago when it caught on fire; the school is supposedly haunted. Becca, Amber and Simon play a prank on Hazel and then she falls off a roof and breaks her arm. Before she fell, she heard whispers and followed them out onto the roof. Once Hazel is home, she feels different and notices that she’s acting strangely and doesn’t like the same colors or foods that she did before the visit to the school. She also feels angry all the time. Hazel decides to investigate the history of the school and what she finds shakes her to the core.

I was pulled right into the story and didn’t want to put it down. I love the character development and Hazel’s, Quint’s, and Deidre’s stories. Hazel’s life is hopeful, Quint deals with abuse from his family and Deidre’s life is tragic. I appreciate the content warnings the author put in the front of the book. I enjoyed the added supernatural elements tremendously.

The author provides her research notes about the real schools for troubled teens that she based this story on. Hazel is from Puerto Rican and Polish descent, Becca and Quint are white. The others are a mix of ethnicities.

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian, Delta, Utah 

Haven’t Killed in Years by Amy K. Green - OPTIONAL

Haven’t Killed in Years by Amy K. Green, 368 pages. Berkeley (Penguin Random House), 2025. $30.

Language: R (85 swears, 21 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: R

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Gwen (29yo) has been living her boring, normal life ever since she became an adult. She doesn’t have close friends to keep from forming attachments and doesn’t even wear bold colors in order to not stand out. But still, someone has figured out that she wasn’t born with the name Gwen. On the day that her mother gets released from prison, Gwen finds a box on her doorstep containing a severed human arm, and now she has to do something about it.

There were several things I liked about this book, but the story became convoluted halfway in and the ending was disappointing, which left me feeling meh about the story overall. A killer that comes out of left field isn’t a twist; it’s a wrinkle that disrupts the flow of a good story. Despite that, I really liked Gwen and her character arc, and even the side characters were memorable. They made the story an enjoyable read.

The majority of characters are implied White. Gwen’s and Elyse’s sexual orientations are undefined, and neither is strictly heterosexual. The mature content rating is for drug and alcohol use; illegal activity; kissing; mentions of prostitutes, genitalia, sex, and rape; innuendo; and partial nudity. The violence rating is for blood and gore, corpses, cutting and self harm, assault, gun use, mentions of animal cruelty and suicide, and murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Johnson

When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven - SEVERAL

When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven, 400 pages. Knopf (Random House), 2025. $18

Language: R (92 swears, 54 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (on-page, vaguely detailed sex and teen drinking) Violence: PG-13 (death and bloody violence)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Seven teens are chosen for the opportunity to be taught writing by the famous author Meredith Graffam. They arrive at Moss, not having a clue of what to expect. Graffam seems to be excited to bestow her knowledge on these young minds. She also seems a bit eccentric. As the term goes on, Meredith expects crazier and more dangerous acts of daredevil behavior from her students and she kicks out the ones she doesn’t want, one at a time, until four are left. Only one student will be chosen at the end of the competition. The four can help each other survive or sacrifice each other to win.

Arlo, the teenage boy main character, gives us some profound statements. Wonderful writing advice given to the students by the teacher is dropped throughout the story. I was pulled into the mystery and suspense and I was rooting for the students the whole time. The ethnicity is mixed.

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian, Delta, Utah 

When We Ride by Rex Ogle - OPTIONAL

When We Ride by Rex Ogle, 336 pages. NOVEL IN VERSE Norton Young Readers, 2025. $19. 

Language: R ( 71 swears 74 f's); Mature Content: PG13 (implied sex, teen alcohol and drug use); Violence: R (gun violence, fights, physical assault) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

17yo Benny is a good student, his mother has high expectations for him, he doesn't drink or do drugs, he gets high grades and he has a job washing dishes at a diner. But Benny's best friend Lawson always needs a ride. They've been best friends for 10 years, call each other brother and have each other's backs, but Lawson, is a drug dealer. 

Edge of your seat action that will engage the reader from the very first page. Lawson's choices get him in deeper and deeper trouble, making When We Ride, a novel in verse, a cautionary tale not only about the dangers of using and dealing, but also about what happens to the people on the periphery. Benny is Hispanic, Lawson defaults white. 

Lisa Librarian  

The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado - OPTIONAL

The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado, 325 pages. HarperCollins, 2024. $20 Language: R (18 swears, 8 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (Drug use and swearing); Violence: PG-13 (Psychological violence and disturbing events) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

 APPEALS TO: SOME

At Archwell Academy, secrets don’t stay buried—especially when they are among the wealthy and affluent students. When 17yo Drew, a nonbinary senior, transfers to the elite all-girls school to claim an inheritance tied to a mysterious legacy society called the Lilies, they quickly realize something’s not right. A girl is missing. Whispers of cover-ups, secret rituals, and hidden truths ripple through the walls. This book is told through multiple perspectives while the characters are in a mysterious time loop. The Lilies is a gripping psychological thriller about power, privilege, and what it means to belong. With themes of identity, justice, and the pressure to be perfect, this novel challenges readers to ask: how far would you go to protect your future?

I really liked the suspenseful parts of this book and how the author was able to blend dark academia and mystery genres. I especially enjoyed the multiple points of view and strong character development, although many of the characters really had me frustrated. I wished certain characters had faced stronger consequences for their actions. I found this book to be a slightly fast-paced and emotionally rich story that tackled themes of power, privilege, and identity with intensity and heart. However, I felt the time loop structure made the plot confusing at times, and that the pacing dragged in the middle. 

The main character is white. Other girls are white, Black, or Latinx

 Jessica Nelson Librarian CTHS 

Deep Water by Maren Stoffels - OPTIONAL

Deep Water by Maren Stoffels, translated by Laura Watkinson, 222 pages. Delacorte (Random House), 2025. $13 (pb)

Language: R (19 swears, 1 ‘f’); Mature Content:PG-13 (sexual assault implied) ; Violence: R (torture, drowning, punches, other death)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

A free ten-day luxury cruise - who can resist that? Not Vesper, that’s for sure. But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is and Vesper finds herself inside a nightmare. Her cruise is a hard life reality check for bullies. Everyone’s identity has been replaced by a number and they are being punished for each other’s crimes. Even when a death occurs, their captors don’t seem phased. Vesper wants revenge and answers, but she also wants to stay alive.

Stoffels’s premise is so bizarre that I had a hard time buying into it. But with The Hunger Games and now the new movie The Long Walk, this type of twisted book does have its audience. It also has some very questionable moments, ie, lack of exercise is a cause of bullying?

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS 

Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore. - OPTIONAL

Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore. 279 pages. Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan), 2024. $21

Language:PG (7 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (kissing); Violence: PG-13 (stabbing, serious injury)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO:  SOME

Being an Alarie girl opens doors. 17yo Isla and her 20yo sister Renata live with their Abuela, who has recently come into a fortune. Aware that new money won’t earn them respect in a world obsessed with legacy, Abuela enrolls the girls in an elite finishing school. Isla lasts only a day. Something about the school feels off—dangerously so. Renata, always the bold and fearless one, decides to stay. But when she returns home a few months later, she’s different. Her spark is gone. And then, without warning, she disappears. To uncover what happened to her sister, Isla must return to Alarie House. But the deeper she digs, the stranger things become. Why are the walls covered in gemstones? Why do the girls behave so recklessly after dark? What’s behind their bizarre transformations? Is it the teachers? The school? The house itself?

As Isla searches for the truth about Renata, she begins to uncover truths about herself—learning to step into her identity as an intersex girl and discovering strength she never knew she had."

I appreciated the central message about what happens to women when they’re expected to split themselves—only showing the polished, acceptable parts while hiding the rest. The story’s encouragement for women to embrace their whole selves, rather than conforming to others’ expectations, resonated with me. The metaphor of women as gemstones and diamonds was thoughtful and layered, reinforcing the theme in creative ways. However, it started to feel overused, appearing so frequently that it lost some of its impact. While some of the eerie events at the house were eventually explained, others were left unresolved, which made the ending feel a bit incomplete. The book had a lot to say, and while its themes were compelling, I felt the overall execution and resolution didn’t quite live up to their potential.

Renata and Isla are Latina

Reviewer: A. Snow, Librarian

Kingdom of Without by Andrea Tang - OPTIONAL

Kingdom of Without by Andrea Tang, 275 pages. Simon & Schuster, 2023.  $20

Language:  R (132 swears, 55 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (Mentions of sex and one night stands, a couple of kisses, alcohol use, mentions of drug use); Violence: PG-13 (bar fight, man shot in the stomach, attempted murder with poison, violent confrontations)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

17yo Ning'er takes on a burglary job, thinking it will be quick and easy, and provide her with much-needed money. However, she quickly finds she has signed on with a crew of college-age insurgents and vigilantes. Re Zi'an is the explosives expert, Fei fei is the fixer, Zhenyi is the medical expert, and Cheng Yun (also known as the Red Yaksha or Young Marshall) is the leader and provides the funding. To make matters worse, they don't want her to steal an object; they want her to liberate a former rebel leader who has been imprisoned for five years.  Set in futuristic Beijing, where cyborgs keep the peace in a class-divided society that often erupts in protests and riots. The city is divided by walls into six areas. Ning'er comes from the sixth or poorest of the rings. The city is run by an out-of-touch ruling family and elected officials who are in the pocket of the powerful pharmaceutical company Lilium. Many of the residents, regardless of which ring they live in, are addicted to a drug called complacency. Lilium will do whatever it takes to keep the people addicted to their powerful and expensive drug. The deeper Ning'er gets into the job, the more she realizes she has to either remain complacent or take risks and join her new friends as they seek revolution. 

I enjoyed the book overall. It is a story of a girl who must choose between remaining safe with the status quo or taking risks to improve her life and the lives of others. It was confusing at times because each of the characters has a name, a nickname, and in the case of Cheng Yun, two aliases. A few key points of the ending were wrapped up too conveniently, in my opinion. 

All of the characters are Chinese.

A. Snow, Librarian

Ice on Fire by Geri Halliwell-Horner - OPTIONAL

Ice on Fire (Rosie Frost #2) by Geri Halliwell-Horner,  464 pages. Penguin, 2025. $19. 

Language: PG13 (100+ swears, primarily deity, 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG (kissing); Violence: PG13 (peril, murders, animal violence) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

13yo Rosie is determined to find out how her mother died. When her lawyer receives the autopsy information from the police, he agrees to meet her at school to talk to her, but when she arrives at the meeting, he's dead on the floor, Rosie is attacked and locked in Miss Churchill's private bathroom. No one will believe her, Collins body is missing and there's no evidence he was ever there. Science on the island has gone crazy, mutant animals are attacking Rosie and her friends, and a billionaire's experiment in the harbor threatens to destroy the world. 

Rosie is desperate and acting that way, she's easily manipulated, out for revenge, impulsive and making some terrible decisions. No one believes her, and her only witness Ed can't be found either. I loved the action of book 1, the games were fun and exciting, but I felt stuck in Ice on Fire. This school is a hot mess, the headmaster is out to get Rosie because he has some vendetta against her mother, and the rich entitlement of many of the students and their parents is getting old. I'm also not a fan of the premise that if you carry your ancestors' name (like Cromwell for example) you are predisposed to act like them.  Rosie is white. 

Lisa Librarian 

Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen by Geri Halliwell-Horner - ADVISABLE

Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen by Geri Halliwell-Horner, 464 pages. Penguin, 2023. $19. 

Language: PG13 (69 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (peril, wild animals) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

13yo Rosie Frost finds herself enrolled in the exclusive boarding school located on Bloodstone Island. Originally built as a tribute to her mother Anne Boleyn by Elizabeth I, now the school boasts an endangered animal reserve. The ghost of Queen Anne is haunting Rosie, encouraging her. She arrives the day before and immediately enters the annual school games, is trying to navigate a pretty horrible bully who seems to have it out for Rosie because she's there on scholarship, and the headmaster, Mr. Hemlock is certainly up to something. Thank heavens she makes a couple of friends in the first few days. 

Oh! I was pulled in right away. I love that it takes place in a non-magical world and involves an environmental concern. The historical connections were fun - I learned a lot about Anne Boleyn and loved that there are Aragons and Cromwells at the school too - so much intrigue. Rosie is trying to deal with the sudden death of her mother, but isn't given tools or counseling to help her - which I felt was pretty irresponsible for a modern day school even if it's in a 400 year old castle of sorts. There's a sequel which I'm excited to read, but this book 1 stands on its own. Rosie is white, some of the other characters are described as brown. 

Lisa Librarian 

An Unexpected Journey by Adrienne Kress and David Miles - OPTIONAL

An Unexpected Journey (Ticket to Ride #1) by Adrienne Kress and David Miles, 208 pages. Andrew McMeel Publishing. 2025. $13. (paperback) 

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (peril) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

12yo Teddy is easily distracted and has a hard time keeping his train of thought. But an electric model train received as a birthday gift changes everything. Soon Teddy can focus, as long as it's about trains. When he enters an essay contest he wins a cross country train ride from Toronto to Los Angeles. Along the route, he meets Olivia, and together they try to figure out why a set of blueprints of the special train are so very important to a grumpy old man and a strange woman. 

I was super uncomfortable that 12yo Teddy (who seems like he's actually 9) would be offered a 1 way ticket, with no accompanying adult on a train that shifts routes along the way. The fact that his grandparents live in LA did not make this journey any less crazy. Also, the narrator talks directly to the reader which I hate. I love the game "Ticket to Ride" and while some of the illustrations, like his ticket, mirror the game, it wasn't really connected. Also, this is book 1 and it doesn't end, you've got to read book 2 to find out if Teddy gets home. I'm just barely this side of not recommending, as the action does pick up at the end. Teddy is white. 

Lisa Librarian 

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson - OPTIONAL

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson, 362 pages. Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan), 2021. $19. 

Language: R (23 swears 1 'f'); Mature Content: PG13 (teens sleeping in the same bed, creepy night behavior by adult); Violence: R (death, suicide, murders, graphic shootings, violent kidnapping, torture, adult assaulting a minor, graphic violent content) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

17yo Jack discovered his mother's suicide, and fearful that he and his little brother Matty will be placed in foster care, buries her behind their barn in rural Idaho. His father is in prison for a robbery. The money was never found, and the drug dealers he stole it from, as well as his accomplice, think Jack knows where it is hidden. They are willing to kill to get that money. 

A gripping and terrible story I had to finish once started. Oh things are so bad for Jack, just when you think it can't get worse it does. A well-written debut novel that kept this reader on the edge of my seat. A lot of violence, but the swear count was low as was mature content which is mostly implied or alluded to. Most of the characters are adults, except for Ava and Jack (17yos) and Matty who is in 2nd grade. I loved Ava's chapter introductions and her perspectives which helped build suspense. The characters are white. 

Lisa Librarian 

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy - ADVISABLE

Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy, 275 pages. Delacorte Press (Random), 2021. $13

Language: PG-13 (12 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (Kissing); Violence: PG-13 (girls are violently attacked, murder)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: MANY

16yo Niamh has just arrived in London from Ireland for a summer drama course. She is excited to be out of her small town and in the big city. But the first two girls she befriends are attacked, and one of them dies. She is beginning to wonder if she made the right decision to come to London. She decides to stay. She starts a volunteer job at a museum, meets a gorgeous guy, and makes some new friends. She begins to feel that she is being followed, and girls that look like her keep getting attacked. She and her friend start to realize the attacks are similar to those from Victorian times by a serial killer named Spring-Heeled Jack. Niamh will have to learn to trust herself and her new friends to stay alive and figure out who is after her.

The book was the right amount of horror and suspense. A little of the supernatural is worked into the storyline as well. I liked the spunky character of Niamh. The plot is a little predictable but overall a very enjoyable read.

Niamh is from Ireland.

Reviewer: A. Snow, Librarian

The Bitter End by Alexa Donne - OPTIONAL

The Bitter End by Alexa Donne, 352 pages. Random House, 2024. $20

Language: R (100+ swears,  49 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13 (off page sex, drinking, drugs); Violence: R (multiple deaths, dead bodies sometimes described)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: MANY

Eight students have a history - eight students are trapped during their senior trip in a luxury cabin high in the mountains during a snowstorm. Their chaperone heads down the mountain to contact help - then the bodies start piling up. Is there one murderer? A conspiracy? A dangerous stranger? The body count won’t wait for them to unmask the secrets.

Donne takes twisted ulterior motives and then twists them again, leaving the reader breathless - and still highly suspicious at the end. I listened to the audiobook and couldn’t stop listening. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Heart-Shaped Lies by Elizabeth Agyemang - OPTIONAL

Heart-Shaped Lies by Elizabeth Agyemang, 384 pages. Random House Children's Books (Penguin Random House), 2024. $20.

Language: R (43 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13 (several instances of underage drinking and drug use); Violence: PG 13 (several instances of physical intimidation or violence, and one on-page death)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: SEVERAL

During a senior trip to Sunny World (a Walt Disney World dupe) in modern-day Florida, three students - Kiara (18yo, Black, 4.0 student), Priscilla (18yo, Black, beauty queen influencer), and Nevaeh (17yo, Black, pastor’s daughter) find out that they are all involved with the same social media prank star & classmate Tommy Harding (18yo, white, truly awful human). When a senior prank he is planning goes awry and Tommy ends up dead, internet sleuths are quick to point out how each of the girls had motive. How are they going to find out what really happened that night?

With lots of twists and turns, this is a murder mystery for the social media age that teenage students will eat up with a spoon. Since Tommy was awful, I couldn’t really muster up a lot of sympathy for his demise, and thus, wasn’t terribly interested in the outcome. However, the book moved at a pretty quick pace and I loved seeing the diversity in the main characters, as a majority of the characters are BIPOC.

Kiera Beddes, #bookswithbeddes