How It Ends

Gr 9 Up—Friendship can be complicated, especially in high school. Told in alternating points of view, this debut YA novel explores what happens in Jessie and Annie's relationship during their sophomore year in a Canadian suburb. Lo sustains reader interest by switching perspectives, creating distinct voices for her two main characters, who fluctuate as they grow throughout the novel. Jessie is initially sheltered and withdrawn in social situations after suffering a traumatic bullying experience in middle school. Struggling with anxiety and panic attacks, she keeps her mental health problems hidden until Annie moves to her school. Beautiful and seemingly confident, Annie notices Jessie immediately, and they click, instantly becoming best friends. Yet Annie's determination masks her own trauma, as she struggles with her dad's new wife, her stepsister, and the death of her beloved mother in a tragic car accident six years earlier. When Annie begins hanging out with Jessie's former bullies and starts dating the hot guy she's been secretly crushing on, their friendship starts to unravel. It doesn't take long before misunderstanding leads to backstabbing, with each sharing the other's most private confidences with the world. Give this to mature teens who are looking to step up from Ann Brashares's "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series. It explores issues such as cyberbullying, abortion, and mental health.