The Lives of Desperate Girls

Gr 9 Up—In Northern Ontario, Chloe, a white teen, has gone missing, and police have just found the murdered body of Helen, a Native teen. Jenny struggles with the realization that her missing best friend claims all the police attention yet the disinterested cops have no plans to look into the Native girl's murder. Jenny throws herself into her own investigation, following clues to figure out the identity of Helen's killer. As she makes connections, she faces her new reality, one without her best friend and with too many lies. Ultimately, she tells the truth, explaining all of the bullying, slut-shaming, and date rape that Chloe endured and how it likely pushed her to suicide. But if Jenny ends this stifling town's culture of silence, will it truly free her? There is a lot to unpack in this novel: depression, slut-shaming, drug use, drinking, date rape, murder, suicide, and racism and racial privilege. By concentrating on the inequalities and indignities confronted by Native people, and Native women in particular, this debut author delves into sexism and rape culture. Depression is a strong theme as well. Jenny spends much of her time drinking or smoking pot out of a sense of hopelessness, despair, boredom, and stagnation.