Alternating chapters in prose and graphic novel scenes tell a haunting tale of two sisters who allow a boy to come between them.
Fifteen-year-old Tessa, her best friend Celine and Tessa's 13-year-old sister, Lulu, go to the summer carnival, where they run into football player Charlie Evans and his buddies. Tessa likes Charlie, and Celine likes boys in general, so the girls join the guys. When they pair off to enter the curiosity sideshow tent, however, Charlie winds up with Lulu instead of Tessa, and Tessa gets thrown together with Jasper Kleine. Tessa finds herself strangely attracted to Jasper, but what would people think if they knew she felt drawn to the class "weirdo?" Lulu and Charlie emerge from the tent hand in hand, which ignites Tessa's anger. Lulu and Celine bond over their boy talk, and Tessa withdraws, stealing away to meet Jasper in the woods. Tragedy strikes, and Tessa believes that her feelings of envy somehow triggered the events.
Castellucci's (Boy Proof) prose brims with wise observations about the all-consuming feelings of adolescence. Tessa loves her sister and wants to be happy for her, but her jealous feelings leak out in toxic ways. Powell's (Swallow Me Whole) graphic novel chapters cast Tessa as Medusa, who turns her onlookers to stone. Teens will see that his scenes of the mythological characters take on a chilling truth in light of the tragedy at the story's core.
Yet there is redemption in this page-turning tale, and an acceptance that feelings alone cannot determine humans' fates. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness