A Flicker in the Clarity

March 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Shy overthinker Evie and spontaneous party girl Emma have been best friends forever. Evie is always there when Emma needs her, including the recent passing of Emma's brother. The friendship suddenly splinters when Evie makes a split-second decision not to cover for Emma when she's out with an older man. Evie is devastated when Emma reacts by blocking her out of her life. Both are students at the competitive Bly School in Manhattan, and Evie is already stressed by the pressures of class, college applications, and finances. When she meets unschooled genius/philosopher/boxer Theo, his approach to life is a breath of fresh air. Emma comes around and starts talking to Evie again. Despite being appalled about how Emma treats Evie, readers will nonetheless be drawn into this story. It isn't a clear-cut friend breakup, but the intensity of the friendship does subside as Evie sees what has been going on a bit clearer. McNamara throws a lot at Evie-a codependent relationship, first love, witnessing a suicide attempt-but it feels like Evie still has so much to learn by the novel's close. VERDICT Despite the work's uneven resolution, this title is a good choice for those needing emotion-filled realistic fiction. A general purchase for medium to large collections.-Emily Moore, Camden County Library System, NJ

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2018
New York teenagers whirl through laughs, tears, hookups, breakups, guilty secrets, and complicated friendships.Spun around what has become a largely one-way friendship between solid, reliable, introspective Evie and manipulative, thrill-seeking Emma, this soapy tale features the high school girls in repeated floods of tears over friendship drama, dangerous pranks, the drunken driving death of Emma's older brother, a brief but torrid fling, a tendency to hesitate and overthink that threatens to sink Evie's art school dreams, and unexpected changes in Evie's family. Evie, who is poorer than most of her classmates, the mousy one in the shadow of her charismatic best friend, finds herself suddenly cut loose when she does something Emma feels is a betrayal--but as soon as Evie starts to branch out, Emma reels her back into their lopsided relationship. McNamara (Lovely, Dark and Deep, 2012) builds her cast--which is evidently all white aside from a minor character who mentions that he's browner than his half siblings--largely from contrasting pairs, so readers who enjoy taking sides can, for instance, compare different parenting styles or Evie's rival romantic interests. Ultimately Evie is nudged into steering her own course. Although the author indulges in a weakness for platitudes toward the end, she never waxes preachy.A bumpy but occasionally exhilarating ride over emotional rapids. (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 2, 2018
Seventeen-year-olds Evie and Emma are best friends, but since the death of Emma’s brother in a drunk-driving accident, Emma has been spiraling out of control. Evie grows frustrated by what she sees as Emma’s increasingly reckless behavior (sneaking out, partying, and dating older men). In Emma’s absence, Evie meets Theo, an enigmatic boy with his own painful past who helps her in her quest to save Emma from herself. Evie and Emma’s relationship is thoughtfully constructed; the highs and lows of what has transformed into a twisted version of friendship are realistically rendered. Readers will identify with Evie’s struggle to balance her desire to help her friend with her own needs and emotional health. Evie’s penchant for making maps—of neighborhoods, of people, of souls—adds complexity to her character, illustrating her need to make sense of the world while highlighting how devastating she finds Emma’s absence and self-destructive behavior. McNamara (Lovely, Dark, and Deep) gives readers a quiet, brooding story of friendship and learning when it’s time to let go. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties.

April 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Evie and Emma have been best friends forever, but recently Evie feels like she's getting the short end of the friendship stick. Emma's reckless abandon used to be invigorating for shy, nervous Evie, but ever since Emma's brother died, she's been steadily spiraling out of control, which makes Evie determined to love her even harder. That's tough to do, though, when Evie doesn't get the same care in return, especially when she's feeling lost amid a romance with an alluring, opinionated boy; the prospect of an exciting (but scary) art scholarship; and the enduring financial struggles she and her mother face. McNamara's breathy, lyrical novel poignantly explores the damage wrought by codependent friendships and the difficulty of cutting a toxic friend loose?even when it's in that friend's best interest. Emma's eventual breakdown is sensitively rendered, and Evie's gradual realization that she deserves better is cheer worthy. With snarky teen characters, pages teeming with evocative, figurative language, and a moving focus on self-discovery, this will appeal to fans of poetry and character-driven stories about emotional growth.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)