From the Publisher:
One week. That's all Jessie said. A one-week break to
get some perspective before graduation, before she and her boyfriend, Chris,
would have to make all the big, scary decisions about their future--decisions
they had been fighting about for weeks.
Then, Chris vanishes. The police think he's run away,
but Jessie doesn't believe it. Chris is popular and good-looking, about to head
off to college on a full-ride baseball scholarship. And he disappeared while
going for a run along the river--the same place where some boys from the rival
high school beat him up just three weeks ago. Chris is one of the only black
kids in a depressed paper mill town, and Jessie is terrified of what might have
happened.
As the police are spurred to reluctant action, Jessie
and others speak up about the harassment Chris experienced and the danger he
could be in. But there are people in Jessie's town who are infuriated by the
suggestion that a boy like Chris would be a target of violence. They smear
Chris's character and Jessie begins receiving frightening threats.
Every Friday since they started dating, Chris has
written Jessie a love letter. Now Jessie is writing Chris a letter of her own
to tell him everything that's happening while he's gone. As Jessie searches for
answers, she must face her fears, her guilt, and a past more complicated than
she would like to admit.
My thoughts:
The writing in this book is superb--from the first
pages, instead of telling you the story in some over-the-top,
grab-your-attention way, the author drops you in the middle of the action.
Jessie's boyfriend Chris has gone missing, and we follow her like a fly on the
wall in the hours that follow: in the chaos, the finger-pointing, the immediate
sense that everyone has something to hide.
The story delves deep into teen drama in a way that is very accurate: the harassment of a black boy in a predominantly white town, the girl backstabbing, the complexity of teen relationships. Jessie feels guilty in a way we can all relate too, as she looks back at her relationship with Chris and what she might've done different. The love letter angle didn't do much for me, but I could see teen readers enjoying it.
In the end, the book delves deep into mental illness in a very teen-centric way--somewhat dramatically, but I think very appropriately so considering how the story ends. I spend a lot of time with teens who deal with mental illness, and I'd highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with this type of tragedy, which is difficult to understand.
**NetGalley provided review copy for honest review**
The story delves deep into teen drama in a way that is very accurate: the harassment of a black boy in a predominantly white town, the girl backstabbing, the complexity of teen relationships. Jessie feels guilty in a way we can all relate too, as she looks back at her relationship with Chris and what she might've done different. The love letter angle didn't do much for me, but I could see teen readers enjoying it.
In the end, the book delves deep into mental illness in a very teen-centric way--somewhat dramatically, but I think very appropriately so considering how the story ends. I spend a lot of time with teens who deal with mental illness, and I'd highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with this type of tragedy, which is difficult to understand.
**NetGalley provided review copy for honest review**
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