It's been four years since the end of Vietnam, two since Magdalene's mother left and "[i]t seems like this is the year for making things happen. The Year of Necessary Cruelty." Ruth and Magdalene have been friends nearly their whole lives and, with Isabelle's introduction two years ago, an inseparable trio formed. Everyone in Highbone, Long Island, seems to have a hidden truth of some kind: unspoken things known by all but spoken aloud by none. Isabelle, Ruth and Magdalene see below the surface of their small coastal town and desperately want to make others acknowledge their own shallow lies and games. As summer approaches and the days stretch into long and dangerous nights, teenage angst amplifies into adult problems. The goal for the girls has always been to get out of Highbone. After all, "[n]one of them are supposed to be here. They all know it, and that's why they get each other; that's why they're friends." Now, though, for the first time, the girls are keeping secrets of their own, even from each other.
Meredith Miller's debut novel introduces a trio of teenage girls on the brink of madness or genius, escape or confinement, freedom or demise. As they struggle with issues including parental abandonment, abuse, sexual harassment, assault and theft, the girls each sift through weighty realities of life, morality and justice. Little Wrecks is an emotional rollercoaster, blasting through the troubles of growing up and growing apart in a world that seems set against you. --Kyla Paterno, former children's & YA book buyer