Teresa Toten

Toten authentically shows eight pivotal days in the life of Sami, a girl trying hard to be a regular teen, but her world is far from regular, what with the secrets she thinks she needs to keep in order to have acceptance in her community. A nuanced and unflinching look at what it's like to be a young person doing everything right, doing everything they can to achieve what others take for granted, fearing that one false step can wash it all away.
Brava.

CW: Self harm, OCD
3.5 Stars

Great, realistic story of kids dealing with issues that overwhelm them -- of coping and triumphing, of loving and letting go. Very well done. That sounds really heavy, but it's actually quite endearing and funny.

books it reminds me of: Counting by Sevens, Out of My Mind, Curious Story of the Dog in the Night-Time, Colin Fischer

A terrifically trashy teen thriller, just in time for beach season.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the advance reading copy.