Girl Forgotten. April Henry. 2023. [March] 264 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Maybe after dark, this older section of the cemetery, with its crumbling headstones, would be scary. But it's a bright summer day, and right now, the cemetery is an escape.
Premise/plot: Piper Gray has come to live with her father and stepmother. She stumbles--quite literally--into a gravestone--Layla Trello--and discovers an unsolved murder from seventeen years before. Since she loves true crime podcasts, why not start her own? Why not interview anyone and everyone who might have known Layla in the past--how hard could that be? Why not see if she can't solve the case and get all the views (or likes or whatever). Jonas, her new friend and possible, possible love interest down the line, agrees reluctantly to help her. (He has a podcast of his own not related to crime.)
But it turns out the town doesn't really like a teenager making accusations all in the name of journalism. Her podcast comes at a cost--is it one she'll pay for with her life?
My thoughts: This one seems very on trend at the moment. I'm not complaining about teens with true-crime podcasts or murder mysteries for the YA crowd. I'm not. It is a refreshing change of pace. I enjoyed this one for the most part.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
I think that Henry really, really understands what teens and tweens want to read, because her books are hugely popular with my students. I'm not a fan of crime or podcasts, so they aren't my personal favorites, but I have to admire her grasp of her target demographic and her research into all things crime related!
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