The Glass Girl

Glasgow (The Night in Question) ruminates on substance reliance, mental illness, and recovery with the help of support networks in this powerful novel. Fifteen-year-old Bella relies on alcohol consumption to cope with her parents’ divorce, the pressures of school, the responsibility of helping raise her sisters, and the death of her beloved grandmother. For Bella, “drinking gives you a voice and a person to be. Adds color to what was just plain and ugly.” After attending a party on Thanksgiving (“Why are there so many kids here on Thanksgiving? Maybe their parents don’t love them, either”), she wakes up in a hospital, having nearly died from alcohol poisoning. Forced by family and friends to attend rehab, Bella must reckon with the events that drove her to this point and find a better way to move forward. Pairing searing dialogue with hard-hitting story beats rendered in unfiltered prose, Glasgow puts a microscope to adolescent self-destruction that is both engrossing and devastating. Combining The Bell Jar with Euphoria, this heart wrenching read offers a resonant and compassionate look at teenage substance reliance. Main characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Julie Stevenson, Massie & McQuilkin Literary. (Oct.)