The Girl Who Fell

High school senior Zephyr Doyle is a field hockey star, whose longtime best friend, Gregg, “the best ice hockey player in the history of our school,” now admits he loves her. Zephyr’s world is further upended by the arrival of new student Alec, whom she instantly falls for. Things happen fast, and soon Alec is demanding that Zephyr abandon her friends and even her college plans to follow him to Michigan, where he has a hockey scholarship. Debut author Parker examines both the seductiveness of feeling wanted and the danger of romantic obsession as Alec systematically threatens Zephyr’s world and everyone in it (including her dog) in a misguided effort to draw her closer and assert his dominance. Parker writes confidently and elegantly, but the novel’s structure—from a horror-movie-esque prologue to an 11th-hour showdown, with increasingly violent episodes in between—can create the sense that the subject of abusive relationships is being used more for action and drama than complex consideration. Ages 16–up. [em]Agent: Melissa Sarver White, Folio Literary Management. (Mar.) [/em]