First published 2011
Alex watches his friend drown at the river and cannot save him. The sixteen year old returns to his junior year at boarding school carrying this weight. He and Glenn, who was also there that day, tell lies about what happened. Alex retreats to the library and writes his real story in a journal he conceals behind a copy of Moby Dick. Miss Dovecott, the new English teacher fresh from Princeton, reads guilt in Alex's classroom assignments. She also recognizes his gift for poetry and nurtures his talent. Alex responds to her encouragement and begins finding his authentic voice. This voice conflicts with the tough masculine culture that Glenn represents and embraces. Glenn grows suspicious that Miss Dovecott wants to expose their secret about the drowning. Alex faces a choice between his friend Glenn and his teacher Miss Dovecott, between the lies that protect him and the truth that might free him.
Genres: fiction, drama, romance, literary-fiction, adolescence, boarding-school, contemporary-romance, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Princeton, River
Period: Junior Year, Sixteen Years Old
192 pages · Library Binding · Delacorte Press