The Dead Enders

A bustling Oregon resort town provides the backdrop for four friends navigating a pivotal summer in Saldin’s (The Girls of No Return) emotionally resonant novel. High school juniors Ana, Davis, Erik, and Georgie are “Dead Enders,” full-time Gold Fork residents gearing up for the intrusion of the Weekenders, who are anxious to take advantage of the town’s sparkling lake. Georgie deals drugs to save up for her dream of taking her band to the city; quiet Ana struggles to understand her single mother; brainy Davis works for the local paper; and star athlete Erik just lost a scholarship, his best chance to escape an unhappy home life. A fire that destroyed an empty church two years earlier links these unlikely friends, and when a lake cabin burns down, too, arson is suspected, opening old wounds and threatening to reveal long-held secrets. Told in alternating first-person chapters, Saldin’s novel poignantly explores the inner lives of four teens and the darkness and poverty that lie underneath the veneer of a golden summer. This thoughtful, atmospheric read will linger with readers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Denise Shannon, Denise Shannon Literary Agency. (May)