More Than We Can Tell

January 15, 2018
Emma is a gamer who codes her own games, much to the chagrin of some of the young men who play them. When one user begins trolling her with increasing intensity at the same time her parents’ marriage falls apart, Emma unexpectedly turns to Rev, a neighbor with his own difficulties: his abusive, religious biological father wants to reconnect with him. Emma and Rev bond over their respective secrets, both harassed online by people who are leaving them increasingly fearful. Alternating between the teens’ perspectives, Kemmerer (Letters to the Lost) does a good job of fleshing out their worlds beyond their interactions with each other: Emma’s immersion in gaming culture includes a flirtatious online friendship with a player named Ethan, and Rev builds an engaging and hopeful relationship with the mistreated 14-year-old foster kid his parents have taken in. Readers will find it easy to fall into Rev and Emma’s lives as romance hovers between them and they confront the violence of their past and present. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, Emerald City Literary.