By Annie Cardi
Union Square & Co., 2026
272 pages
978-1454960584
Age 14 and older
Pia and Max (white) live with their controlling father on a remote Maine farm, isolated from the outside world. Their father sells eggs and wool in town, but when he falls and breaks his leg, the deliveries fall to Pia. Pia relishes the opportunity to get off the farm, even if she’s confused by the wads of cash her father’s customers hand over in exchange for the modest wares. When cute, friendly Felix offers to help with a flat tire, Pia is suspicious; she’s been taught that people always want something in return, but Felix doesn’t. Pia begins pushing her luck: stopping at the library for novels and accepting Felix’s invitation to join him and his coworkers for breakfast one morning. As her world opens up, she begins to suspect that her father’s business is not what it seems. A snoop through his off-limits shed reveals the truth: He’s making and selling opioid drugs. And when Pia works up the courage to look up her mother’s name on a library computer, she learns that she and Max were not abandoned, as they’ve been told. Their mom was found beaten in her home, and her children—Pia and Max—have been missing for ten years. Afraid that the authorities will separate her and Max, Pia agonizes over her next move as her father’s leg heals and her time ticks away. While it occasionally stretches credibility, this taut, suspenseful thriller is gripping, resonant, and satisfying. ©2026 Cooperative Children’s Book Center