Some Mistakes Were Made

Using an intimate first-person narrative and alternating between the past and present, Dwyer celebrates found family in this emotionally layered and strikingly romantic debut. With her father in and out of jail and her mother often disappearing without notice, Ellis Truman spent most of her Indiana childhood with classmate Easton Albrey and his family. After taking Ellis, then 11, under their wing, the Albreys—which include Easton’s mother, father, and brothers Dixon and Tucker—essentially raise her as their own. When she’s 15, Ellis realizes that she’s fallen in love with Easton, but following an incident, Ellis, now 18, is living with her aunt in California. Though she and Easton haven’t spoken since she left, Tucker encourages Ellis to accompany him home for their mother’s 50th birthday. Ellis’s melancholy present, juxtaposed with scenes from her joyful past, provide insight into her struggles navigating conflicting loyalties to her biological family and the Albreys. The narrative’s alternating timelines and the slowly unfolding mystery behind Ellis and Easton’s fallout introduces intrigue and palpable tension between intricately characterized, presumably all white, characters. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May)