North Fork

Gr 9 Up—When golden girl Kristen goes missing, everyone in the area around Anacortes, WA, feels her loss and is quick to blame the person she was last seen with, Corey, a troubled loner. Once the police find Kristen's blood at the campsite where Corey hides out from his abusive stepfather, the teen is locked up in juvenile detention as a suspect in her murder. No one believes his story of innocence, least of all Kristen's best friend, Natalie, who knows the details of Corey's sordid past all too well. Yet nearly as soon as the stage is set for a riveting whodunit, the narrative switches. Kristen, exhausted by pretending to be someone she isn't in her seemingly perfect life, has run away to British Columbia and has been trying to make it on her own, never realizing that her friend Corey would be catching all the fallout of her decision. Natalie, under the impression that Kristen is dead, grieves for her friend and throws herself into a dangerous relationship with a boy she meets the night Kristen disappears. Themes of struggling to survive emerge, engaging mature readers as they discover how these teens deal with stalkers, juvenile detention, and the consequences of reckless decisions. Because of its dynamic plot and relevant themes, the novel has a lot of promise but misses the mark at times. Some of the characters' actions and motivations seem unrealistic, and there are a few plotlines that fizzle without reaching a satisfying conclusion.