Have You Seen This Girl

Ever since their father was convicted of the murder of five teenage girls and sentenced to life in prison, high school senior Sid Atkinson has been haunted by the ghosts of the victims. On the 10th anniversary of the first death, a recently murdered corpse is pulled out of Cardinal Lake in a clear copycat killing. When a second girl goes missing, suspicion quickly falls on Sid, who was already ostracized for both their father’s crimes as well as their nonbinary identity. As they struggle to avoid the increasingly hostile small-town rumor mill, Sid finds solace in the company of Mavis Hastings, a Cardinal Creek newcomer who doesn’t know about Sid’s family. But when a sixth ghost shows up demanding justice, Sid realizes that the only way out of their father’s shadow is to finally confront his crimes. Short, gut-wrenching interstitials of the victims’ last moments intercut Sid’s tensely introspective first-person narration in this tightly plotted true crime–informed murder mystery by Tyndall (Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken). While the paranormal elements feel underdeveloped, Tyndall strikes an emotionally resonant chord via tender explorations of queer romance. Sid and Mavis are white. Ages 13–up. (May)