Please Don't Tell

February 29, 2016
In Tims’s suspenseful debut, the death of a teenager sets off a dangerous string of events. High school juniors Joy and Grace Morris are identical twins, but they couldn’t be more different. Grace is studious, while Joy struggles academically; Grace is shy, and Joy is loud and wild. Both girls have secrets. Joy believes that the death of a classmate, Adam, by a fall into a quarry, is her fault—that she drank too much and lashed out at him because of how he took advantage of Grace. Someone soon begins blackmailing Joy, claiming to have witnessed her pushing Adam to his death, using her to carry out an agenda with major repercussions for people around her. Told through the twins’ alternating points of view, Tims’s narrative is a study in opposites, as well as a window into the girls’ insecurities, hopes, and mutual devotion, all set within the framework of a compelling mystery. While keeping the tension dialed up, Tims expertly depicts the awkward uncertainties of teen life and the sometimes-blurry line between right and wrong. Ages 13–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency.

March 15, 2016
Twin sisters struggle to find themselves in the wake of the death of the boy who nearly destroyed them. The summer before their junior year, sisters Joy and Grace agree to a summer of misdeeds. They'll get drunk and high for the first time, and Grace will come out of the shell Joy's always trying to pry her from. But when Grace develops a crush on Adam Gordon, things begin to spiral. Joy brings them together only for Adam to assault Grace and send her into a fugue; she won't leave her room, let alone return to school. Then, in November, Adam falls to his death. It seems the monster haunting them may be gone for good, except Joy can't shake the feeling that maybe she pushed him while drunk, that it wasn't an accident. And then the blackmail letters claiming someone saw Joy murder Adam begin to arrive. As Grace retreats further into herself, Joy's forced to follow the letters' directions to keep the blackmailer from turning her in. When the truth comes out, it'll either bring the sisters back together or tear them apart for good. The twins' drama accelerates quickly, taking readers down shocking rabbit holes. However, the twist that ties it all together may be too far-fetched for readers seeking answers to questions about sexual assault rather than pulp fiction. High-octane drama that thrills but lacks much-needed emotional resolution. (Thriller. 14-18)

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May 1, 2016

Gr 8 Up-Joy Morris truly hates Adam Gordon for what he did to her twin sister, Grace. So when Joy ditches Grace to go to Adam's birthday party and blacks out from drinking and Adam ends up dead in the quarry, Joy worries that she may have been the one to kill him. And just when Joy begins to think Adam's death may not be her fault after all, she receives a letter. Someone was at the quarry; someone saw what happened to Adam; someone has proof that Joy is a killer. If Joy doesn't expose a scandalous school secret exactly as the letter instructs, someone will report her to the police. But if she does, will this nightmare really end? Although this debut work addresses classic coming-of-age questions and touches on many important contemporary issues-mental instability, crime, physical differences-the combination is disappointing. The twins' self-reflective tendencies frequently overshadow their actions. This shortcoming is often used to reinforce a weak plot, resulting in a repetitious story line. Strong language is used throughout, and sexual situations are included.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Though identical on the surface, teenage twin sisters Joy and Grace Morris could not be more different. Wild child Joy revels in angering her parents and indulging in drugs and alcohol. Grace, on the other hand, strives to be the straight-laced daughter with stellar grades and a spotless record. Their worlds are torn asunder after the death of Adam, a popular musician at their high schoola death Joy believes she drunkenly caused as revenge for him sexually assaulting Grace. Joy's fears are confirmed when she receives mysterious notes threatening to turn her in to the police. Using the sisters' alternating POVs, Tims weaves a taut thriller, taking her time to first flesh out her characters, plant many possible identities for Joy's blackmailer, and then escalate tension via deft flashbacks and well-timed revelations. Violence and sexuality are handled with a stark gravity, exposing the grimy secrets that lay just beneath the facade of the sisters' seemingly idyllic town. Readers of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why (2007) will find this to be a perfect complement.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)