The Girls of No Return

Gr 8 Up—Anger over her mother's abandonment when she was small leads 16-year-old Lida to resent her father and stepmother and to abuse herself by cutting. Her harmful behavior lands her in the Alice Marshall School for troubled girls, deep in the Idaho wilderness. After a shaky start, Lida gradually befriends hard-edged Boone, who takes her on forbidden hikes to a forest lookout station where 25-year-old Ben gives the girls alcohol but otherwise behaves as a good friend. When drop-dead-gorgeous Gia arrives at the school, she and Boone hate one another at first sight, an animosity fueled by Lida, who is juggling a friendship with each of them. Once Lida introduces Ben to Gia, despite promising not to, Gia pretends she's a teacher and begins romantic visits with him. When Boone finds out, the negative intensity with Gia escalates, until a terrible altercation during a camping trip sends things over the edge. Lida's story is disclosed in first person, starting with an "epilogue," interspersing additional "epilogues" throughout, and finishing with a "prologue"—an unusual yet effective plot construction to keep readers guessing. However, although the girls' interactions are meant to be intriguing, Gia is manipulative, sketchy, and unlikable while Bo one is unpredictable and sometimes nasty. It's difficult to believe that Lida wants a friendship with either of them. Also, Lida never really gets beyond her wimpy attitudes in relationships even though she meets the school's outdoor challenges, which are geared toward making her a stronger person. Plus, unrealistically, the school claims to be strict about alcohol and cigarettes, yet there are no real repercussions for the regular indulgences that occur. The writing style, edginess, and buildup to the ultimate disclosure will attract teens who enjoyed A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Deitz (Knopf, 2010), minus the growth from invisible to invincible.—Diane P. Tuccillo, Poudre River Public Library District, Fort Collins, CO