The Summer She Went Missing

Gr 9 Up–Paige Redmond’s family spends every summer in Clearwater Ridge at the sprawling vacation home of the Covingtons, their longtime family friends. Paige feels out of place alongside the country club set, but her discomfort is worth it for the chance to spend quality time with best friend Audrey Covington and Audrey’s attractive older brother, Dylan. The summer before her junior year is different, though—Audrey is moody and withdrawn, Paige loses herself in a summer romance with Dylan, and the two girls barely speak. Then, Audrey doesn’t come home one night. A year passes, and Paige returns to Clearwater Ridge with Audrey still missing, the second person in two years to disappear from the town. Determined to find Audrey, Paige and Dylan begin investigating the earlier disappearance of Madison Blake, hoping to find connections between the two girls. Instead, they uncover a hidden burner phone whose contents reveal that they might not have known Audrey as well as they thought they did. Told in alternating perspectives by Paige and an anonymous “The Girl,” Ichaso’s latest is a twisty, addictive mystery that will appeal to fans of Kit Frick or Holly Jackson, although it doesn’t necessarily stand out among similar offerings. Some side characters can be hard to differentiate, making certain plot reveals less impactful. Most characters are cued as white.