How far would you go to unravel the truth? Seventeen-year-old Evie Parker is devastated in the wake of her father's sudden death. But she knows something her mother doesn't: the day of his heart attack, her dad was planning to move out. After finding his packed bags, she impulsively put everything away to spare her mom more heartache. To make matters worse, Evie soon learns the reason her father was going to leave: he had been dating his twenty-two-year-old receptionist, Bree, who is now six months pregnant with his child ... Evie's half-sibling. Desperate to distract herself, Evie signs up for a summer photography class, where she meets a motley crew of students, including quirky and adorable Declan. Still, Evie can't stop thinking about the other woman. Armed with a telephoto lens, she caves in to her curiosity ... and what starts as a little bit of spying on Bree quickly turns into an obsession. Then, when an emergency forces Evie to help Bree, she learns there's more to the story than she ever knew. Alex Richards crafts a riveting and layered story about betrayal, complicated family secrets, and getting to the heart of what really matters.
This timely, emotionally-resonant story about a teen girl dealing with the aftermath of a tragic shooting is a must-read from an exciting new YA talent. Johanna has had more than enough trauma in her life. She lost her mom in a car accident, and her father went AWOL when Johanna was just a baby. At sixteen, life is steady, boring . . . maybe even stifling, since she's being raised by her grandparents who never talk about their daughter, her mother Mandy. Then he comes back: Robert Newsome, Johanna's father, bringing memories and pictures of Mandy. But that's not all he shares. A tragic car accident didn't kill Mandy--it was Johanna, who at two years old, accidentally shot her own mother with an unsecured gun. Now Johanna has to sort through it all--the return of her absentee father, her grandparents' lies, her part in her mother's death. But no one, neither her loyal best friends nor her sweet new boyfriend, can help her forgive them. Most of all, can she ever find a way to forgive herself? In a searing, ultimately uplifting story, debut author Alex Richards tackles a different side of the important issue that has galvanized teens across our country.