Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. White, working-class Lee is a nuanced and believable protagonist.Ī timely page-turner that will resonate with readers. Denny, African-American and blind, appears the most grounded, though readers only glimpse his backstory. White, fervently Christian Ashley is a staunch supporter of the accepted narrative, while Miles, white and already troubled before, is even more withdrawn. The characterizations are strong: Gay, Latinx Eden struggles with guilt over her difficult relationship with her murdered cousin. Echoing highly publicized tragedies, this taut, emotional story goes behind the headlines to reveal lives impacted by school violence. Lee becomes convinced that she must get Kellie to participate if the project is to be complete. One of the six, Kellie, has moved away, her family hounded when she insisted that the cross necklace found at the site actually belonged to her, not Sarah. When fellow survivor Denny asks Lee to read his college scholarship letter, she is inspired to ask the other eyewitnesses to write their stories too.
However, Sarah’s religious family and the community at large embrace that story. Afterward, tales spread that her best friend, Sarah, defended her Christian faith before she was murdered, something eyewitness Lee knows to be untrue. Senior Leanne Bauer faces the third anniversary of the incident that took nine lives at rural Virgil County High School. A school shooting survivor is determined to correct untrue stories about the tragic event.
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