Stay

To escape her obsessive ex-boyfriend, Clara and her single father spend the summer in a rented house in a small beach community called Bishop Rock. In alternating chapters, she recounts her increasingly frightening relationship with controlling Christian, as well as her attempts to recover, now that %E2%80%9Cno one back home knew where I was.%E2%80%9D In this gripping, layered novel, Clara is stalked, first by cell phone and later in person, by Christian. Clara is also haunted by her own feelings of culpability: %E2%80%9CThe thing is, it can feel good to make someone lose all control.%E2%80%9D She is not the only one with ghosts: the legends of Bishop Rock are full of them, and many people around her have chilling stories, including her father, a %E2%80%9Csmart-ass%E2%80%9D writer hiding a big family secret. Clara%E2%80%99s unease mounts as she grapples with her emotions surrounding the past and the impending threat of Christian%E2%80%99s arrival. Fear has made Clara a fiercely good observer of detail, and Caletti%E2%80%99s powerfully descriptive prose serves her character well, as she provides insight into ideas about love, power, and who we forgive. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Apr.)