Don't Look Back (A Novel)
Gr 7–10—From the very first page, readers are thrust into the mind of confused amnesiac Samantha, who finds herself at the center of the mysterious disappearance of her best friend, Cassie. The protagonist was the last person known to see Cassie alive; the problem is that the teen remembers nothing of their last night together and, for that matter, nothing of her life at all. With the help of her brother and the compelling and handsome Carson Ortiz, Samantha figures out that the old Sam, the one she can't remember, might be one that's worth forgetting. Popular, powerful, and mean, she and her best frenemy Cassie had ruled the school and put down anyone in their path. In the search for someone who would have wanted to cause the two of them harm, she realizes that the list could be a long one. Someone clearly knows things no one else could about that night and leaves threatening notes telling the narrator to stop searching for the truth. Readers are led to wonder if Samantha's gnawing suspicion that she might be the culprit herself is right or perhaps if her developing romance with Carson is really a romance with Cassie's killer. The action-filled plot and the shocking revelation of the murderer's true identity will leave fans of suspense and mystery thoroughly satisfied.—Joanna Sondheim, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City