Pasadena

With her best friend dead in an apparent suicide, a 17-year-old girl with demons of her own sets out to uncover what really happened in Smith’s deeply tragic and darkly humorous tale. Jude isn’t even in California when she learns that Maggie Kim is dead, found floating in the family pool, full of pills. When she arrives back in Pasadena, Jude is enveloped in the cloud of loss that hangs over Maggie’s friends, who scrabble to claim a spot as number one mourner. Positive that her friend wouldn’t commit suicide, Jude—who, through Smith’s keen narrative voice, is a sharp and often biting observer of human nature—tries to reconstruct Maggie’s final days, pulling from her own memories of a friend who knew her like no one else. Turns out, Maggie played that role for several people, yet no one truly knew her, an often heartbreaking paradox of teenage friendship that Smith (Orleans) explores deftly. The answers Jude seeks matter far less than the painful journey of a tough character who comes to terms with something deeper than grief. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit. (Sept.)