The Girl in the Park

Gr 9 Up—Wendy Geller had the reputation of being a wild party girl at her elite private school, but Rain knows that her best friend wanted to fit in and to be popular. She also knows that Wendy earned a lot of enemies by going after popular girls' boyfriends. When the teen turns up dead after a party, Rain is determined to find out what happened. She is also an outcast; the other kids make fun of her speech difficulties due to a cleft palate. But in order to find the murderer, she has to force herself out of the background. Talking to some of the in crowd gives her a new perspective on her classmates, and her search leads her to several suspects. When she discovers the true killer, it nearly tears the school apart. Rain finds her voice and realizes she must speak out for her friend who can no longer speak for herself. The story starts off slowly, gradually building to a surprise ending. Rather than a heavy-handed explanation of Rain's cleft palate, details are sprinkled throughout the story, building readers' understanding of her communication difficulties and readers' compassion for her.—Diana Pierce, Leander High School, TX