Goodbye, Rebel Blue

Gr 8 Up—Rebecca "Rebel" Blue, 16, is just settling into yet another detention and its inane assignment (write your bucket list) when "some girl with a perky blond ponytail" starts peppering her with questions. Kennedy Green strikes up a conversation with the reluctant Rebel about fears, beliefs, and whether or not there's an afterlife. The discussion is still in the protagonist's head the next day when she hears that Kennedy was killed in a car accident the night before. Prompted by the tragedy, Rebel digs Kennedy's bucket list from the detention-room trash can and sets about completing it on the dead girl's behalf. The teen isn't half the "do-gooder" Kennedy was, but with 20 items to complete, it's time for her to try. Rebel is used to holding the world at arm's length. However, in her mission to check items off the list, she finds herself needing people more than she'd ever expected. By letting down her guard, she has a chance to explore friendships and family relationships and finally come to terms with her own traumas and heartbreaks. Readers will root for Rebel as she makes a sincere effort to befriend a detention acquaintance and as she falls for kind-hearted Nate. The romance and language are chaste, making this novel appropriate for younger teens.—Brandy Danner, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA