First published 1998
Summer 1973 arrives in a Washington D.C. suburb with brutal news. A twelve-year-old boy has been molested and killed. Nine-year-old Marsha watches her world collapse from multiple directions. Her father abandons the family for her mother's younger sister. Her teenage siblings turn to smoking and theft. Her mother begins flirting with Mr. Green, their new neighbor. Even President Nixon appears crooked on television. The murder investigation grips the community with fear and suspicion. Marsha develops her own theory about who killed the boy. Her accusations will tear the neighborhood apart and show how terror can destroy the bonds between people. This debut novel explores how a child processes violence and betrayal when the adults around her seem as dangerous as strangers.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Washington D.C., United States
Period: 1973
304 pages · Paperback · Henry Holt
Content warnings: child-death, violence