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Pasadena
CCBC Review:
When her best friend Maggie’s death is ruled suicide, Jude needs a better explanation for such a huge loss. Beautiful Maggie, living in an L.A. mansion and fascinated by old Hollywood, had just gotten early acceptance into Brown. Jude tries to find out about her friend’s final hours, certain something sinister happened. Chinese American Maggie was the center of a diverse, otherwise disparate group of young adults who, Jude realizes, don’t have much in common without her. Jude likes Joey, her not-quite boyfriend (Jude has trust issues, the origins of which are gradually revealed), and laid-back surfers Hank and Effie, but not the others. She decides to investigate what everyone was doing the night Maggie died. The style is crisp and tight in this noir-inspired work, full of sharp, vivid descriptions, skillfully drawn characters, and a subtle sense of foreboding. The wonderfully realized L.A. setting juxtaposes magical light and grittiness; struggle with excess, material and otherwise. Maggie and Jude’s lives were opposites, too, and yet they clicked. Jude’s search stirs up memories (Maggie is the only friend she told about being raped when younger) and brings the complications and imperfections of being human into relief. ©2016 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 14 and older
Age Range:
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Friendship
Mysteries
Sexual Assault and Rape
Suicide
Diversity subject:
Multicultural General
Publisher:
Putnam
Publish Year: 2016
Pages: 228
ISBN: 9781101996256
CCBC Location: Fiction, Smith