by A. S. King
First published 2010
Vera Dietz has carried a torch for Charlie Kahn since childhood. She has also carried his secrets, one after another, year after year. Even when he turned on her. Even when he destroyed what they had built together. Now Charlie is dead under suspicious circumstances, and Vera sits on information that could change everything. She knows things the other students don't know. She knows things his family doesn't know. She knows things the police don't know. The question becomes whether she will step forward to set the record straight about Charlie. The deeper question becomes whether she even wants to. Vera must decide if clearing his name matters more than protecting herself from the truth of who Charlie really was.
Genres: coming-of-age, mystery, contemporary, young-adult
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Small Town
Period: Contemporary
251 pages · Kindle Edition · Knopf Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: death