Damage Done

August 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-In the vein of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars (Delacorte, 2015) and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (Crown, 2012), Panitch's novel delivers a heart-pounding, emotionally charged story that proves that not everything is what it seems. Julia Vann faces unmentionable consequences when her twin brother, Ryan, brings a gun to school and kills 11 people in the band room. Ryan, after shooting himself, remains in a coma, and Julia's family moves to a different city to escape the whispers and outright hatred. As Julia, now called Lucy, realizes her brother's psychologist is following her, she must confront buried memories that threaten her daily existence. The slow trickle of reminiscences unveils a dark truth, one that Julia/Lucy wants hidden forever, and one in which she will go to extreme lengths to protect. VERDICT The latest author to tackle unreliable narrators, Panitch combines heart-twisting realities with a good old-fashioned mystery.-Amanda C. Buschmann, Atascocita Middle School, Humble, TX

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 Twins Ryan and Julia were born holding hands and grew up sharing everything. Then the unthinkable happens. Twenty-two minutes in a locked band room results in 10 kids and an adult dead. Ryan is in a coma after a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Julia is the only one to walk out of the room. Julia and her parents change their names and move away, leaving Ryan in a rehab center. Julia makes new friends at school and even gains the affection of swimming-star Michael, but when her brother's psychologist begins to stalk her, she doesn't know if she is going around the bend or is truly in danger. Questions about love, trust, sacrifice, and self-respect simmer below the surface in this plot-driven thriller. Narrated by Julia's fearful, emotional voice, this novel is unsettling and moves at a relentless pace toward a climax that observant readers will anticipate but still relish. Teen fans of Gillian Flynn and James Patterson will embrace Damage Done and clamor for more from Panitch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)