The Girl in the Park
Born with a cleft palate, Rain was cruelly mocked by her classmates at the exclusive Alcott School, but after years of speech therapy, her speech has greatly improved. Even so, in her junior year, not talking is still a habit. One friend, Wendy, encouraged Rain: “You’re brilliant. So give up the silence.” But the teens grew apart after Wendy became the school’s wild girl. Then Wendy’s strangled body is found in a park, and headlines and school gossip paint her as a slut whose behavior led to her random killing. Rain remembers Wendy’s kindness, though, and as she realizes that facts aren’t adding up, she recognizes that she is going to have to speak up. Fredericks has constructed a taut, suspenseful mystery with convincing characters whose actions and motives propel the plot. Rain is an unusual, compelling protagonist, a watcher who must step reluctantly out of her comfort zone. Observant readers will likely suspect the culprit before Rain, but they will find as much satisfaction in observing Rain’s personal growth as in the solving of the intriguing mystery. Grades 8-12. --Lynn Rutan