Incriminated

Gr 9 Up—When readers last saw Lucy, Paolo, Candace, Grace, Maya, and John-Michael in Emancipated, the six teens were still riding the high of living together without any adults in a house on Venice Beach. But their secrets, deceptions, and crimes—some of which linked them together in unknown ways—were beginning to make their arrangement unravel. This sequel begins six months into their emancipation and with the group attempting to heal the fissures that marred what should've been paradise. But just as things begin to feel better—Paolo and Lucy are trying to be friends after an awkward almost-hookup, Candace's career is shaping up, Maya is pushing back against her employer—things go from bad to worse. Alternating points of view allow readers to see the big picture and all of its intersections before the characters can. By the end, the six roommates are entwined in ways they never anticipated. Reyes is not light on high-stakes drama for this fast-paced second book in the series that is every bit as fun as the first and that is shaping up to be a heck of a ride in the next installment.