Don't You Trust Me?

May 30, 2016
From an early age, Morgan recognizes that she is a “cold one,” amoral and uninterested in anyone but herself. Even her parents grow afraid of her. En route to boarding school, the 15-year-old meets Janelle, a look-alike teen, whose parents are shipping her to relatives in Albany to put distance between her and an older boyfriend. Morgan seizes her chance to escape, helping Janelle sneak off with the boyfriend in exchange for the girl’s plane ticket to New York. Like all great con artists, Morgan has abundant confidence in herself and disdain for everybody else—she never worries that her new, rich relatives might suspect she’s not the real Janelle. Once embedded, Morgan makes friends (and a ton of money) passing off various charity scams as community service required for high school graduation. Readers who overlook a number of implausibilities (how are Morgan’s low-income parents able to afford boarding school?) will be swept up in a narrative driven by the high-stakes game Morgan is playing, wondering whether she will be smarter than she is greedy and if she’ll get away while she still can. Ages 12–up. Agent: Irene Goodman, Irene Goodman Agency.