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Summary
Summary
A gorgeous and haunting contemporary YA in the tradition of We Were Liars .When Eliza Hart, the most popular girl at Ventana Ranch boarding school, is found dead, Ellie Sokoloff is determined to figure out what happened to her. After all, Eliza was Ellie's childhood best friend. Never mind that ever since Ellie arrived at school Eliza has spread terrible rumors about her, calling her a liar and a stalker, when all Ellie wanted to do was rekindle their old friendship. Or that Ellie's claustrophobia limits where she can go and what she can do. Or that Ellie's suitemate, Sam, is the only one who will help her . . . because to everyone else, Ellie looks like the top suspect.Can Ellie clear her name and solve the mystery behind Eliza's death? Her hunt for the truth will uncover secrets she never imagined, sending her deep into her own memories of her childhood with Eliza Hart.New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Sheinmel delivers a gripping mystery and a sensitive and moving examination of the secrets that can hold us back--and even destroy us.
Author Notes
Alyssa Sheinmel is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels for young adults including A Danger to Herself and Others, Faceless and Second Star > . She is the co-author of The Haunting of Sunshine Girl and its sequel, The Awakening of Sunshine Girl . Alyssa grew up in Northern California and New York and currently lives in New York City. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @AlyssaSheinmel, or visit her online at alyssasheinmel.com.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-A riveting coming-of-age tale and tragic absorbing mystery. Eliza Hart appears to have it all: she's beautiful, rich, and smart. The teen also has unipolar depression. Unlike bipolar sufferers, Eliza is perpetually immersed in a bottomless depression. When she is in kindergarten, Eliza makes a new friend, Ellie Sokoloff, and the girls are inseparable for the next two years. The narrative smoothly shifts between both girl's perspectives in alternating chapters, although the story is predominantly told from Ellie's point of view. Ellie moves away after first grade and the girls lose touch. Her family relocates to New York where Ellie suddenly develops a crippling sense of claustrophobia anytime she is in a small, enclosed space. Her Mom takes her to countless therapists with no resolution. On top of this, Ellie is shunned and rejected by her classmates. Finally, Ellie finagles a scholarship to an elite boarding school in California. It is here that she thinks she can reinvent herself. Despite not revealing her phobia, she becomes the class reject again when she discovers her long-ago best friend Eliza is also there. Ellie is devastated when the popular Eliza starts mean rumors in the school. The depths that both girls go to hide their psychological struggles is heartbreakingly dismal. Neither girl can tolerate their psychosis any longer, yet they are not willing to reveal their deep-rooted secrets. The protagonists' portrayals are realistic and teens will easily relate to their shattered dynamic of friendship, popularity, and secrecy. -VERDICT A nuanced work about mental illness for most YA collections.-Julie Shatterly, W. A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this tense boarding school mystery, Ellie Sokoloff, who conceals her debilitating claustrophobia from her fellow students, attempts to solve the mysterious death of her classmate and estranged childhood best friend, Eliza Hart. When Eliza's body is recovered from the cliffs outside the dormitories, Ellie becomes the prime suspect in her death. From their first days at Ventana Ranch, Eliza spread vicious rumors about Ellie, calling her a stalker and a compulsive liar-and giving her a possible motive. Sheinmel (Faceless) writes mostly from Ellie's perspective, though intermittent chapters from Eliza's point of view add depth and clarity to their long history. No one wants to believe that attractive, wealthy, and popular Eliza might have committed suicide, but it becomes clear to Ellie, who has her own secrets, that "just because she didn't seem depressed doesn't mean she wasn't." Sheinmel's depiction of mental illness is intensely real, sending a lasting reminder that not all illnesses or struggles are visible from the outside and that there is no shame in seeking help. Ages 14-up. Agent: Mollie Glick, CAA. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Childhood friends Ellie and Eliza are reunited at boarding school. But Eliza spreads vicious lies about Ellie, turning the student body against her--and later making Ellie the prime suspect in Eliza's suspicious death. Secrets long kept by both girls must be unveiled to clear Ellie's name. Told in alternating first-person narratives, this mystery is intensified by realistic, raw portrayals of both characters' struggles. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Sometimes mean girls have a reason.White girl Ellie Sokoloff was diagnosed with claustrophobia when she was 7, shortly after her family moved from California to New York nearly a decade before. Countless therapists over the years haven't been able to cure her of this debilitating illness, leaving Ellie to try her own cure. She leaves the confines of congested Manhattan and returns to the open spaces of California. When she arrives at the prestigious Ventana Ranch boarding school in Big Sur, she discovers that her childhood best friend, Eliza Hart, is a student. Popular, Barbie doll-perfect white girl Eliza spreads vicious lies about Ellie; soon, the entire student body hates her. When Eliza is found dead, having fallen from a cliff, almost everyone assumes Ellie killed her. Jewish Ellie's biracial (African-American and white) suitemate, Sam, helps her work to clear her name. As she uncovers devastating secrets about Eliza's life, she discovers the childhood roots of her own illness and of Eliza's hatred of her and that her seemingly perfect former friend's inner life was far from ideal. The narrative alternates between Ellie and Eliza; the latter girl tells her story from her place after death. While the characters reinforce the stigmas of mental illness, the text dispels those problematic myths about depression, bipolar disorder, and phobias. A public-service announcement about mental illness wrapped up as a compelling mystery that will keep readers going until the hopeful conclusion. (Fiction. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Eliza Hart is found dead off the cliffs near her California boarding school. The questions surrounding her death are particularly intriguing to Ellie Sokoloff, a classmate who had been best friends with Eliza back when they were small girls. The two girls had long been estranged. In fact, when Ellie tried to rekindle their friendship, Eliza had responded by spreading rumors that Ellie was a liar and a stalker. Ellie's interest in Eliza's death is somewhat incredibly amplified by numerous conversations that she happens to overhear, leading her to discover Eliza's secrets. The characterizations are thin, and the plot unfolds unsteadily, but Sheinmel's real focus seems to be on the perils of untreated depression. Eliza herself narrates chapters from beyond the grave that add insight into both her mean-girl behavior and her death. And some readers will be interested in Ellie's difficulties with claustrophobia. Despite flaws, the novel could serve to inform teens of the various manifestations of mental illness.--Colson, Diane Copyright 2017 Booklist
