This is Not a Dead Girl Story
This One’s for You
Catch the Light
A potentially deadly disappearance shortly after a mysterious death leaves the sole remaining member of a trio of friends desperate to uncover the truth.
Sixteen-year-old Juliette Green and her 17-year-old cousin, Remy, have grown up together in Black Falls, New York, alongside River O’Dell, Remy’s magnetic boyfriend—and Jules’ best friend and secret crush. River’s sudden death completely devastates the girls, even before it’s ruled a suicide, and Jules’ grief turns to shock and terror when Remy disappears one week later, leaving behind her phone without its SIM card. Edgy, mischievous Remy can’t be dead—Jules just knows it—and she pulls Sam, River’s cousin, into her quest when their paths keep crossing and he seems to know things. Perceptive, observant Jules forges ahead despite discovering unsavory information about threatening people in her and Remy’s lives; the weight of all the secrets becomes suffocating even as Sam becomes indispensable and irresistible. When the teens are unable to count on the expected adults for help, they take matters into their own hands. This twisting narrative, which asks complex questions about power and autonomy, will keep even seasoned genre fans guessing while trusting them enough to avoid simplistic answers. Well-crafted suspense, emotionally compelling characters, and wild revelations will propel readers through some lulls in the action to an eminently realistic if slightly frustrating resolution. Main characters are cued white.
A clever, dogged, and well-executed mystery that examines critical issues.
-Kirkus Reviews
Amplifying raw emotion through imagery-rich prose, Sweeney (Catch the Light) explores mental health and the transition to adulthood against a contemporary music industry backdrop.
Former best friends Sydney Greenfield and Caspian Forrester originally bonded over music, a passion hidden from both Syd’s pragmatic mother, who insists she pursue a “steady job,” and Cass’s father, who’s still grieving the death of Cass’s musician mother, who died in an accident while driving home drunk after a gig. Grappling with parental pressure, post-graduation ambitions, and emotional overwhelm, the estranged friends serendipitously meet up after graduation and impulsively travel to see Cass’s mom’s bandmates, the Darlas, on tour. A single show turns into a cross-country journey during which the Darlas help the teens live out their musical dreams, but boundaries are tested as Syd and Cass dredge up their past hurts, and the duo must both reckon with their falling-out and decide whether they fit into each other’s futures. Candid internal arcs and discussions of mental health elucidate therapy-positive messaging. By rooting the characters’ internal development in their connection to art, Sweeney captures the sensory immersion of musical performance and elevates the novel’s introspective plot via lyrical alternating perspectives.
—Publisher’s Weekly
An edgy love story in which everyone seems to have a secret to hide.
—Kirkus
Nine months after the death of her father, Marigold is forced to pick up and move from her home in sunny Los Angeles all the way across the country to rural upstate New York. According to her mom, living with her aunt in a big old house in the woods is the fresh start Marigold and her little sister need. But Mary aches for the things she’s leaving behind—her best friend, her older sister, her now-long-distance boyfriend, and the senior year that felt like her only chance at making things feel normal again.
On top of everything, Mary has a troubling secret: she’s starting to forget her dad. The void he’s left in her memory is quickly getting filled with bonfires, house parties, and hours in the darkroom with Jesse, a fellow photographer and kindred spirit whom she can’t stop thinking about. As the beauty of Mary’s new world begins to sink in and her connection with Jesse grows stronger, she feels caught between her old life and her new one.
When the two finally come crashing together, Mary will have to decide what she really wants and come to terms with the ways that the loss of her dad has changed who she is. She can’t hold on to her past forever, but maybe it can be the foundation for something even brighter.
CTL playlist
Listen to the songs that inspired Catch the Light and got Marigold and Bea through their first year in Cumberland.