Girl at the Edge

At the start of poet Dietrich’s arresting if flawed debut, teenager Evelyn Gibson reveals: “Six months before I was born, my father walked into Ponce de Leon Mall in St. Augustine, Florida. When he walked out, eleven people were dead. My father is a murderer.” Her father, whom she has never met, is now on death row in a Florida state prison. Her mother, a preschool teacher, has since remarried, and the couple have always tried to provide a supportive and positive environment for Evelyn, but are unaware of her struggles to understand her father’s actions and her own darkly disturbing thoughts. As Evelyn says, “I am alone in this, and that’s how it has to be because who wants to stand with the girl at the edge, staring down into the nothingness below? Who wants to be there to see the moment she lets go?” Original metaphors and nice descriptions bolster this extended monologue of a potential killer, but it lacks suspense and variation in tone. Still, Dietrich’s assured prose bodes well for the future. Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency. (Mar.)