Together We Rot

Former best friends Wilhelmina Green and Elwood Clarke must work together to save their small Michigan town from a terrifying religious cult in Arndt’s spine-chilling debut. Teenage Wil’s mother has been missing for over a year. Though local police insist that she skipped town, Wil is certain there’s something sinister at play. Her solo investigation leads her to believe that the Garden of Adam, a religious organization run by her town’s most influential family, has something to do with her mother’s disappearance. Seventeen-year-old Elwood, meanwhile, has been doing his best to live up to his preacher father’s expectations, especially knowing that he’s expected to leave school at 18 and take up his father’s mantle as the head of the Garden of Adam. But when Elwood discovers that his parents intend to sacrifice him to a mysterious entity in his town’s surrounding woods, he flees. Wil agrees to hide him in exchange for help in proving that the Garden of Adam is responsible for her mother’s vanishment. A meandering plot is buoyed by likable supporting characters, Wil and Elwood’s snappy banter, and eerie, brooding atmosphere. Main characters read as white. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)