The Blonde Dies First

Black 17-year-old Devon Harris is determined not to be forgotten when her identical twin sister Drew graduates from high school a year early and inevitably leaves home for college. Though they’ve never been “the twins of sitcoms old,” Devon plans a perfect summer of fun and bonding; after all, this is the last opportunity she’ll have to spend time with Drew and their four neighborhood friends. After the crew mess around with a Ouija board, a “knockoff Slenderman” demon appears, dropping the group into a real-life slasher film and throwing a wrench into Devon’s “Best Summer Ever.” While blonde Devon evades the demon’s initial attempt to kill her, she’s not ready to celebrate—after all, isn’t the blonde supposed to die first? In keeping the stakes high and the twists coming, Wellington (Their Vicious Games) deftly dismantles horror genre cliches in a script-flipping hair-raiser that pointedly examines gentrification’s impact on communities. Murky logic occasionally drives the supernatural chills, but the story sizzles with fully drawn protagonists, complex relationships, and slow-burn romance as portrayed through Devon, whose struggles to understand Drew and express her love for another girl haunt her throughout every step of this subversive Brooklyn-set summer thriller. Ages 14–up. Agent: Quressa Robinson, Folio Literary. (July)