The Half Life of Molly Pierce

For the past year, 17-year-old Molly has been suffering blackouts, waking up hours later unable to remember what she’s been doing. When she witnesses a fatal motorcycle accident, Lyle, the dying victim, knows who she is even though she has never met him. As Molly pieces together the story of her friendships with the self-centered Lyle and his dependable and attractive brother, Sayer, she discovers how little she knows about her own life. Alternating clipped sentences and run-on thoughts to create a unique voice, newcomer Leno conveys the everyday struggles of living with depression, “wondering how just living and breathing and showering and brushing our teeth and combing our hair could be this fucking hard?” Molly’s relationships with other characters stand out in their complexity; remembering Lyle, she “watch[es] as we progress backward from best friends who sort of hate each other to best friends who love each other to best friends who are unsure of how close they are.” The twist the novel builds toward introduces a fierce new presence and ensures a quietly tragic road to the hopeful ending. Ages 13–up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (July)