She's Gone

September 15, 2022
Seventeen-year-old Hunter Gifford has no memories of the car accident he was in the night of the homecoming dance with Chloe Summers, his now-missing girlfriend. In the small southern Kentucky city of Bentley, comments on social media condemn Hunter as responsible for Chloe's disappearance. When he attends the community vigil for her, Chloe's mother publicly accuses Hunter of obstructing the investigation. Hunter's own mom died when he was 15 and his sister, Olivia, was 12. Their dad has awkwardly attempted to pull his weight as a solo parent, and Hunter has stepped in and nurtured Livvy. Small but mighty Livvy is an ardent defender of her brother and is fiercely in love with her girlfriend, Gabriela. To make things worse, childhood friend Daniel informs Hunter that he's making a true-crime documentary about Chloe. Hunter is upset, especially since it makes him look like a prime suspect, and a subsequent dramatic event draws more attention to the video. Hunter and Chloe met in creative writing club, and he knew she kept a journal--but it's missing. Enter the sleuthing team of Hunter, Livvy, and Gabriela, who hatch a plan to find it. The dynamics between Hunter and Livvy and Livvy and Gabriela are endearing and will charm readers, who will root for them to solve the well-executed mystery. Main characters default to White; Gabriela is Mexican American. This gripping page-turner will keep readers guessing until the final twist. (Thriller. 14-18)

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October 3, 2022
In this absorbing thriller by Bell (The Finalists, for adults), Kentucky high school senior Hunter endeavors to find his missing girlfriend, Chloe, and clear his name as a suspect in her disappearance. After leaving their school’s homecoming dance, the couple gets into a car accident on an isolated rural road. When Hunter wakes up in the hospital with a concussion, he learns that Chloe is missing. Though the memory loss caused by his concussion renders him unable to help the police in their search, at a community vigil, Chloe’s mother accuses Hunter of obstructing the investigation. To complicate matters, his best friend Danny, who is filming a true crime documentary about Chloe’s disappearance, is murdered shortly after he and Hunter have a public argument, further turning the town against him. Fearing potential jail time, Hunter—joined by his younger sister, Olivia, and her girlfriend, Gabriela—struggles to assemble the missing pieces of his memory to find Chloe and expose Danny’s murderer. Hunter’s amiable dynamic with Olivia and Gabriela injects humor and levity, and short, propulsive chapters keep the pages of this well-paced mystery turning toward a punchy, if somewhat contrived, conclusion. Most characters read as white; Gabriela is Mexican American. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Hale Smith, InkWell Management.

November 1, 2022

Gr 9 Up-Despite his best efforts, Hunter cannot remember the events of Homecoming night-how he ended up in the hospital, why he and Chloe left the dance early, or even where she is now. Missing memories don't change an essential truth, though: Chloe is gone, and no one knows what happened to her. As the last person to see her, all eyes are on Hunter and fingers are quick to point. It's always the boyfriend, right? As Hunter sets out to restore his memories of what happened, readers get to know him better and find a likable enough lead in a well-meaning, vanilla sort of way. Other characters check off the other obligatory boxes: protective best friend, quirky sister, socially distant father. Despite several bland characters, the book is a page-turner with short chapters and a simple writing style, propelling readers on at a rapid clip. Large swaths of the central mystery are predictable by anyone familiar with the genre, but layers to the plot twists still provide surprises. There is diversity in terms of race and sexual orientation among the cast, though some awkward dialogue is given to the characters of color. VERDICT A solid if not spectacular mystery, this is a worthwhile read for students in need of their next plot-twist fix, but also one that will fade from memory almost as soon as it is over.-Nate Hipple

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