Bears

Things

Claim to Fame

What If . . . All the Boys Wanted You

Breda's Island

Smaller Sister

The Sack (Puffin Books)

Each of Us a Universe

Sadie meets The Glass Castle in a smart, gripping, and twisty YA debut about a girl seeking to reveal the truth about her mother-and herself.

Seventeen-year-old Phoenix has spent much of her life drifting from town to town with her mom Nina, using their charms to swindle and steal to get by. Now they've made it to their ultimate destination, Mom's hometown of Jasper Hollow. The plan: bring down Ellis Bowman, the man who ruined Nina's life.

When Phoenix gets caught spying on Ellis, she spins a convincing story that inadvertently gives her full access to the Bowman family. As she digs deeper into their secrets (and begins to fall for daughter Melody), she finds herself entrenched in the tale of a death and a disappearance that doesn't entirely line up with what Mom has told her.

But there's even more to this story Phoenix doesn't know. Who, if anyone, is telling the whole truth about what happened? Debut author Brooke Lauren Davis explores the murkiness of right and wrong, of choices and consequences, of heroes and villains, in an eerily compelling and thought-provoking small-town saga.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Bears

Dagmar Fertl, Erik D. Stoops, Michelle Reddy, 2000

Things

W. R. Philbrick, Lynn Harnett, 1997

Claim to Fame

Margaret Peterson Haddix, Chad Hunt, 2009

What If . . . All the Boys Wanted You

Liz Ruckdeschel, 2006

Breda's Island

Jessie Ann Foley, 2022

Smaller Sister

Maggie Edkins Willis, 2022

The Sack (Puffin Books)

Christobel Mattingley, Simon Kneebone, 1993

Each of Us a Universe

Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo, 2022