Very Bad People

Calliope Bolan, who is white, begins her junior year hoping to escape her small hometown, where everyone knows her and her two sisters as survivors of an unexplained car accident that killed their mother six years prior. A legacy student just transferring to New York boarding school Tipton Academy, Calliope is quickly tapped to become a “ghost” like her mom before her—a member of Tipton’s intersectionally inclusive secret society, Haunt and Rail, which fights for social justice on campus via awareness-raising “larks.” Calliope finds a sense of purpose in the group, but when the ghosts go after someone on campus whom they believe to be a sexual predator, Calliope begins to doubt their methods—and starts noticing connections between the organization and her mother’s death. Frick (I Killed Zoe Spanos), who treats her protagonist’s trauma with care, considers ethical quandaries about corrupt systems and moral vs. political authority while providing ample twists and references to fairy tale archetypes. Nuanced and startling in turn, this is a satisfyingly smart and thrilling tale. Ages 14–up. Agent: Erin Harris, Folio Literary. (Apr.)