The Outliers

February 15, 2016
In this creepy conspiracy thriller, first in a trilogy, a young woman embarks on a hazardous road trip to rescue her missing best friend, following a trail of increasingly desperate text messages. To find Cassie, whose wild child ways often get her in trouble, Wylie has to work with Cassie’s boyfriend, Jasper, whom she blames for her friend’s most recent fall from grace. As they journey into the dark depths of Maine, they discover the unsettling truth that all of this trouble is connected to Wylie’s father’s research into heightened emotional perception, and now multiple groups are after them. McCreight (Where They Found Her) crafts a tense, atmospheric narrative that sends the teens reeling from one surprise after another, but the plot threatens to collapse under the weight of so many twists and turns, which stretch credulity a little too much. There are some nice emotional moments, especially when Wylie tries to faces her deep-seated anxiety, but the central premise doesn’t quite hold up its side of the bargain. Ages 14–up. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary Agency.

May 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Wylie is worried about her former best friend Cassie. They haven't gotten along since Cassie began dating Jasper and then started drinking and partying all the time. When she goes missing, her mother comes to Wylie's home. The teen wants to help, but she hasn't left her house in months, because she's afraid to go outside. Jasper, also frightened for his girlfriend's safety, arrives on Wylie's doorstep with text message instructions to pick her up and drive 100 miles away. The protagonist must overcome her fear, and general dislike of her friend's boyfriend, in order to save Cassie. As the road trip progresses, so does the mystery of who has their friend. With a slow-paced beginning, the novel gains traction once the highway journey gets underway. Unfortunately, Wylie is a frustrating protagonist. Her agoraphobia, which at first seems debilitating, is easily overcome several chapters into the book. Her near hatred of Jasper also seems extremely misplaced, as he goes out of his way to be nice and often makes her feel better despite the dire circumstances surrounding his girlfriend's potential kidnapping. Some of her fears seem to be well-founded, as nearly every individual she encounters after leaving her house turns out to be involved in her friend's disappearance.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016
Boston-area high school junior Wylie Lang is in danger of losing everything she loves. Her beloved, brilliant, war-photographer mother died in a car accident four months ago, and her best friend, Cassie, seems to be going rapidly off the rails. Suffering from acute anxiety, Wylie is unable to go to school and is stuck at home with her unsympathetic twin brother and her father, "a hard-core nerd scientist who lives entirely in his head." When Cassie's boyfriend gets a troubling text message from Cassie, Wylie manages to conquer her agoraphobia and accompanies Jasper on a desperate drive to an abandoned summer camp in northern Maine, where Cassie is being held by a mysterious group. In this story, no one is who they appear to be, and few adults can be trusted. Wylie, Cassie, and Jasper (all evidently white) become pawns in a complex charade involving the attempted hijacking of Dr. Lang's research by defense contractors who see profit in his discovery of rare emotional intelligence in a few research subjects, known as "outliers," including Wylie herself. At times the plot, like the Maine woods, thickens to a point of impenetrability, and the twists become far-fetched. Wylie's present-tense account is smooth and well-paced, however, if not strikingly original. Readers who are willing to suspend disbelief will enjoy this action-packed psychological thriller. (Thriller. 12-16)

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March 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Best-selling author McCreight makes her YA debut with a heart-pounding thriller that ends on a cliff-hanger. Wylie has struggled with anxiety her whole life, but after her mother's accidental death in a car accident, it worsens to the point of agoraphobia. But when her best friend Cassie goes missing and texts her for help, Wylie is the first in line to save hersetting out for the Maine woods with Cassie's boyfriend, Jasper, in tow. But their rescue mission hits some snags, and, upon arrival, Wylie's world as she knows it is upended. Could her mother's death actually have been on purpose? And did her dad have something to do with it? This fast-paced thriller will have readers pinned to their seats with all the twists and turns in the second half. Despite being coupled with some preposterous scenarios at the end, the novel has an intriguing premise regarding emotional intelligence and the female mind. Thought provoking and chilling, this is guaranteed to grow McCreight's fan base. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With film options already in the works, best-selling, award-winning McCreight's YA debut is set to be a big splash.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)