The After Girls
Ella and Sydney struggle to redefine their friendship after Astrid’s suicide, just days after their high-school graduation. Each struggles to understand how someone they thought they knew could have been in such distress, and wonder what they could have done to prevent it. Ella, who discovered Astrid in the cabin near their Appalachian home, is haunted. Believing that Astrid is sending signals, Ella grows distant from her steadfast boyfriend, instead drawing close to Astrid’s older cousin. Meanwhile, Sydney increases her drinking and dallies with a deadbeat bandmate. As they seek peace, they begin to see how little they knew Astrid or her fun-loving mother, Grace. Though the ghostly message angle is somewhat distracting from the reality of grief, depression, and mental illness, readers will understand Ella’s behavior in the face of such a loss. These are sympathetic, flawed teen characters, though most adults exist only as plot movers. This is a sensitive look at the wake of a friend’s suicide, infused with genuine emotion, hope, and just enough well-placed romance. Grades 8-11. --Heather Booth