I Will Never Leave You

In Kennedy’s sun-drenched paranormal thriller debut, a toxic love story that extends beyond the grave plays out via morally gray characters. Seventeen-year-old, white-cued Maya Rosier is not looking forward to graduating from Coldwater Canyon School for Girls in Los Angeles; due to challenges surrounding her mental health that led to a hospital stay, her grades suffered, and she didn’t get accepted into any colleges. While hiking through Antelope Valley with her longtime girlfriend Alana Murray, also white, Maya breaks up with her, citing Alana’s impending move to Massachusetts for college. Yet Alana’s cruel and cutting reaction prompts Maya to leave her on the trail and head back home without her. When Alana never returns from the hike, Maya contends with conflicting feelings surrounding her emotionally abusive ex-girlfriend suddenly vanishing from her life. Then Alana reappears as a ghost with an ultimatum: either Maya helps her possess someone so she can renew her lease on life, or she will frame Maya for her disappearance. Urgent feeling first-person prose shifts between past and present, simultaneously depicting a serpentine ghost story alongside flashbacks to Alana and Maya’s relationship. Ages 12–up. Agent: Chloe Seager, Madeleine Milburn Literary. (July)