Waiting on Wednesday: The Drowning Game by Dusti Bowling

Image: Hachette Book Group

The Drowning Game by Dusti Bowling. 288 p. Union Square & Company/ Hachette Book Group, October 13, 2026. 9781454957089.

I saw a tweet the other day from Dusti Bowling announcing her YA debut. Her book, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, was our One Book, One School choice in the fall of 2023. The PTO paid for Ms. Bowling to visit the school at the culmination of our school-wide read in November. (Unfortunately for me, I was hospitalized about a week later and ended up on a medical leave for a long time.) Her presentation was fun and engaging.

 I have read and enjoyed most of her middle grade novels and really look forward to her YA debut.

The Drowning Game is due out on October 13, and here's the publisher synopsis: 

Award-winning author Dusti Bowling masterfully crafts a wild ride on Arizona’s Salt River in this thriller inspired by Hitchcock’sVertigo that’s perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus.

It’s the late 1990s, and seventeen-year-old Christian is content with his summer plans to work and hang out with his cat, when he gets a phone call from his best friend that will change his life forever. James invites Christian to Arizona for a whitewater rafting trip, even though he knows Christian is terrified of water. But James is persuasive, and Christian relents.

In Salt River Canyon, the heat is scorching, and so is James’s pretty girlfriend, Freya. However, something seems off between the couple as bitter words fly. When James and the others disappear in the second raft, Christian and Freya are left to face the rapids alone. Disaster strikes when Freya falls into the river, and Christian is frozen with fear.

One year later, Christian is still wracked with guilt over Freya’s death. Now, he’s a freshman at Arizona State University, and he thinks he sees Freya on campus. It can’t be her. Freya is dead, after all. They found her body. Didn’t they? Christian follows Madison, the girl who looks like Freya, everywhere. He was certain Freya had died that day, but now he’s certain Madison is Freya. Will he ever find out what’s real? Or will his obsession be his downfall?

There were a ton of Karen McManus fans at my school, so they should be stoked for this. Happy reading!

#tbtt: Shattering Glass by Gail Giles

Image: Macmillan Publishers

Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. 240 p. Square Fish/ Macmillan. (Own)

Oops! Almost forgot #tbt TMS Readers! Thanks to the storms last night for the slightly cooler temps. I got into my overgrown and weedy garden. Helga looked on.

#tbt features Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. This debut is a dark, dark look at bullies and bullying and is best suited for mature teen readers. Simon Glass is a nerd who is in the crosshairs of a popular group of alpha males. Suddenly, they decide to adopt Simon and make him "popular." As Simon becomes popular, he develops some ideas of his own, which goes against the clique. Will they put up with it or will Simon pay?

Shattering Glass was published in 2002 and was named a YALSA Best Book. Click on this link to Ms. Giles' website for a peek inside the inspiration for the novel. Happy reading!

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Image: Macmillan Publishers

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hours, 32 minutes. Read by Isabella Star LaBlanc. Macmillan Audio, May, 2023. 9781250877277. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! We are you coping with lots of thunderstorms on and off for the past week. The skies go from partly cloudy to ominously cloudy quickly and so, I've had to be judicious with Boo's long walks.

Teen Tuesday features Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley. This is a stand-alone companion to Ms. Boulley's debut, The Firekeeper's Daughter, which takes place ten years earlier. Pauline Firekeeper-Birch, the chill-twin, is looking forward to a summer of fishing on her beloved Sugar Island in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, while her anxiety-prone, academically oriented twin, Pauline, works as an intern at Tribal Counsel. Unfortunately, she wrecks the Jeep she shares with the family and her Aunt Daunis paid for the repairs, expecting Perry to pay her back. So Perry becomes a reluctant intern to Cooper Turtle, curator of the Tribal Museum, who is involved in negotiations with the local college to return tribal artifacts under the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The red tape and slowness of the process infurates Pauline, and so, she takes matters into her own hands and removes seeds from the college store-room. Cooper Turtle no longer trusts her and releases her from her internship, leaving Perry to scramble to find another mentor. Meanwhile, several women in the community have gone missing and there have been deaths of Black people at the hands of the police, leaving Perry worried for her Black father's safety and further fueling her fight for social justice.

Native tradition, culture and history are woven seamlessly into what becomes a suspenseful heist story. Perry's first-person narration is snarky, intelligent and hilarious at times as she lives up to her nickname, "Perry Pulls No Punches." The Sugar Island setting is vividly drawn as are supporting characters. Blunt language, references to sexual assault, blackmail and violence make this compelling story more suitable to thoughtful, mature teen readers.

Warrior Girl Unearthed was just named a Boston Globe Horn Book Award Winner in the Fiction and Poetry category. I read this one with my ears and appreciated hearing the correct pronunciation of the language. New-to-me narrator Isabella Star LaBlanc brought Perry to life and paced her performance well. Happy reading!

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

Image: Penguin Random House

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~10 hours, 55 minutes. Read by Bailey Carr and multiple narrators. Listening Library, March, 2021. 9780593342398. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. Pippa Fitz-Amobi has sworn off detective work, but hosts a viral podcast with Ravi's help, where she discusses the cold case she just solved. But when the brother of a friend of hers goes missing and the police won't investigate because he has a history of running away, Pip can't say no. Pip has definitely made some enemies and some people are quite reluctant to be interviewed by her, especially since she's podcasting her investigation in real time. 

This sequel pretty much hits the ground running. It takes up shortly after events in the first book, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. Fans of the first will not be disappointed. While this installment can be read without reading the first, it is better to have the background info and avoid spoilers for book one.

The main narrator continues to keep a brisk pace and sound reasonably young. The addition of multiple narrators also keeps the story moving. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Image: Penguin Random House

The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. Unabridged e-audio book, ~11 hours. Read by Bailey Carr, Mairsa Calin, Michael Crouch, Gopal Divan, Robert Fast, Kevin R. Free, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Carol Monda, Patricia Santomasso, Sheri Sardar, Amanda Thickpenny, and others. Books on Tape/ Listening Library, February, 2020. (Review of e-audio downloaded from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! My students should know that I love hearing recommendations from them. The school year started with me receiving a lot of requests for "good girl's guide to murder" books or books by Holly Jackson. I am sorry to confess that I hadn't heard of the series or the author, who made her debut with A Good Girl's Guide to Murder in 2020. I put a hold on the audiobook and just finished it. What a nail biter!

Pippa Fitz-Amobi plans to revisit a cold case in her town of Fairview for her senior capstone project. Five years earlier, the small town was rocked by the disappearance of high school senior Andie Bell and the apparent suicide of her boyfriend, Sal, who admitted via text that he killed her. Case closed even though her body was never found. Pippa is unconvinced because Sal was always nice to her, so she starts interviewing. It isn't long before she begins putting pieces of the puzzle together and also receives notes warning her to stop.

Suspense is high throughout, as she sifts through the large number of suspects and examines motives. There are some cool red herrings and a few plot contrivances that keep the reader guessing until the end. It's not surprising that this is a best seller and checked out of most libraries in my library cooperative. Happy reading!

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Roxy by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Image: Simon & Schuster

Roxy by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hours. Read by Michael Crouch, Megan Tusing, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Candace Thaxton. Simon & Schuster Audio, November, 2021. 9781797133416. (Review of e-audio borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features a thriller/ allegory by the father-son writing team that brought us Dry. In their latest collaboration, entitled Roxy inspired by the opioid crisis, they personify the drugs, Oxycontin and Adderall, two medications that can be therapeutic, but also are also addictive. The multiple perspectives shift between Roxy and Addison in the first-person and siblings Isaac and Ivy in the third. The reader knows that one of the siblings will die from page one. Then, the story flashes back to several months earlier. Isaac injures himself in a scuffle with her drug-dealing boyfriend while retrieving his hard-partying sister, Ivy from a party. He's an honor student and athlete with hopes to earn a soccer scholarship to college. He has to play through his injury, so his nana gives him one of her pain pills. It works, and Isaac is able to play. Meanwhile, Ivy decides to buckle down and catch up with her schoolwork, so she agrees to take Adderall for her ADHD. The results are remarkable. She's able to focus and stay on task.

Roxy and Addison have other plans for the pair though. They make a friendly wager to see who will be the first to bring their plus-ones to the "party," where they will be tempted by stronger substances. Suspense builds as Isaac becomes dependent on Roxy and Ivy seems to turn her life around.

This character-driven novel is fast-paced and raw. The narrative style of each reader is pitch perfect. Mature teen readers, especially fans of Dry, will marvel at the world the Misters Shusterman have created-one in which good people make bad choices.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: One of Us is Next by Karen McManus

Image: Penguin Random House

One of Us is Next by Karen McManus. Unabridged audiobook. ~ 10. hours. Narrated by Holly Linneman, Maria Lists, Fred Berman and Karissa Vacker. Listening Library/ Penguin Random House Audio Publisher Group, January, 2020. 9781984842107. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.

Fans of One of Us is Lying, buckle up. Author Karen McManus, queen of the pageturners, has returned with a sequel. Teen Tuesday features One of Us is Next. It is a year after Simon's spectacular set-up and Bayview has had to put up with a few Simon Wannabes trying to resurrect the gossip app. Now, there's a new game in town - Truth or Dare - with the advice, "Take the dare" to sign off on every school-wide text. The first victim didn't take the dare, and embarrassing news about her was spread far and wide, causing her to become a pariah. The second victim took the truth as well and lost her best friend. So victim number three took the dare and, while embarrassing, it wasn't so bad. Lesson learned: take the dare. But then, the dare turned deadly. 

This gripping mystery takes place in the same community as One of Us is Lying. While some of those main characters are present in the story, younger students are chosen, one being the sibling of one of the Bayview Four. The story does stand alone, but do yourself a favor and read book one first. If you are a teen who likes whodunits, you will love this book.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

Image: Listening Library

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~10 hours. Read by Sophie Amoss and Kirby Heyborne. Listening Library, January, 2019. 9781984829092. Review of audiobook borrowed from public library. Hard cover courtesy of publisher.)

Twins, Ellery and Ezra, move in with their grandmother while their mother is in rehab. They hardly know her or the town in which her mother grew up. Maybe it's because their mom is an actress and they live in L.A. or maybe it's because twenty years earlier, Ellery's mother was a homecoming queen and her twin went missing. Five years ago, a homecoming queen was murdered at a horror-themed amusement park. No one was ever charged. 

As homecoming approaches, threatening grafitti, spray-painted in blood red is popping up all over town accompanied by grotesque hanging dolls. Then, one of the homecoming queen nominees goes missing. Adding to the tension, is also the unsolved mystery surrounding the hit and run death of a popular science teacher. 

Echo Ridge keeps its secrets but everyone has opinions. Circumstantial evidence points to Malcolm, the kid brother of the prime suspect from five years ago. Ellery, whose addiction to true crime reality television shows makes her rather fluent in detective-speak, has her own list of suspects.

The present tense dual narration ratchets up the tension in this suspenseful thriller. Know that I don't like the thriller/ mystery genre but force myself to read them for my students who do. I enjoyed this one as well as the author's debut, One of Us is Lying. Well placed red herrings, likable narrators and an atmospheric setting add to the enjoyment. 

The present tense worked. Mostly. There were a few moments when I was taken out of the story. Color me mostly riveted though a tad disappointed by a late reveal. 

Narrators Moss and Heyborne paced their performances perfectly. The audio was a real pleasure. I listened over two days of prolonged, mindless choring. 

One of Us is Lying is a favorite at my school. I'm sure Two Can Keep a Secret will keep fans happy. 

Teen Tuesday: Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt

Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt. Once Upon a Crime Family series #1. Bloomsbury, May, 2016. 9781619638709.

Teen Tuesday features Hold Me Like a Breath by. This book is recommended by sixth grader, Emily! She asked if students are allowed to recommend books on the daily broadcast and I was thrilled to say yes!

She writes: It is terrifying, scary, and a great cliff-hanger. The book is about a girl named Penelope and she has a disease called Idiopathic thrombocytopenia which is a disease that causes easy bruising. A slight touch can cause severe bleeding and badly bruising. Penelope is part of a great crime industry. The people in the industry try to save people by transplanting organs. ILLEGALLY. Then, distaster sets in. This book will take you on a scary adventure with Penelope Landlow.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Unabridged recording on nine compact discs, 10 hours. Read by Kim Man Guest, MacLeod Andrews, Shannon McManus, and Robbie Daymond. Listening Library, May, 2017. (Review of audiobook borrowed from public library. Own hardcover.)

Five stereotypical teens walk into detention one afternoon after being caught by a hard-ass teacher for having a cell phone in class. By the end of detention, one is dead. By the following day, the four are murder suspects. It seems Simon, was about to post incriminating details about each on the gossip app he created. In the eyes of the police, they all have a motive. 

Books like this are not my cup of tea. Several students recommended it to me and I always try to read books my students recommend. I am glad I did and glad I read with my ears. First, because the performances were spot-on perfect. Secondly, because I tend to read thrillers fast in one tense sitting because I can't stand the suspense. Being locked into the audio made me pay attention to clues. I kind of figured out who early but not the how. That kept me guessing. 

I also liked the fact that these "stereotypes" all had surprising depth and got over their prejudgment of each other to get to know one another. The suspense was high throughout. The big reveal was plausible. 

This won't be a shelf sitter. While it's a tad mature for the middle school crowd, my eighth graders who love fast-paced thrillers will be all over this. I am sorry it took me so long to get to this debut. I am now eager to get to the arc of the author's next book, Two Can Keep a Secret.

#tbt - Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. Alex Rider series #1. 192 p. Philomel Books/ Penguin Young Readers Group, 2000. 0399236201.

#tbt features Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. This first book in the Alex Rider series was published in Great Britain in 200 and in the United States in 2001. Alex Rider was a fourteen-year-old school boy living a quiet life with his banker uncle and American nanny when the two receive word that Ian Rider was killed in a car crash. Details don't add up. Alex investigates and discovers that his uncle was a spy for MI6 and the director wants Alex to complete the mission.

Fast-paced and suspenseful, the whole series is quite popular at TMS. Horowitz thought he wrote his last Alex Rider book in 2011 but found he had more adventures for our favorite teenage spy. Ms. Kahn got to meet Mr. Horowitz a a local bookstore yesterday and had him autograph a book for TMS students. It will be available for checkout as soon as she reads it!

Blog Tour: Breaker by Kat Ellis

Breaker by Kat Ellis 334 p. RP Teens/ Running Press, May 24, 2016. 9780762459087. (Review from arc courtesy of the publisher.)

When sixteen-year-old Kyle and his mama move from the hatred in their North Carolina town, they are looking for a fresh start. So Kyle has a new last name because most folks would recognize his old one. His father was a notorious serial killer called The Bonebreaker. He is cautiously optimistic about his fresh start but that evaporates in homeroom the first morning of classes. One of his classmates is Naomi Steadman, the daughter of his father's last victim, the only person to have seen the Bonebreaker and lived. He vows to keep his distance but he has already caught Naomi's eye and there's no denying the instant spark between them.

Everyone has secrets in this modern gothic thriller. Naomi is haunted by the death of her mother. She's also grieving for her grandfather's slow decline due to Alzheimer's. She's fending off unwanted advances by a creepy custodian and tired of the mind games her former best friend is playing. 

Killdeer Academy has a grim history. It was a former asylum for the mentally ill. A section of it burned in a tragic fire, but there are plenty of turrets, secret rooms, dark hallways and urban mythology, not to mention taxidermied predators and prey to lend a suitably creepy atmosphere. Yikes! And that cover! I have a hard time looking away and it ties in so gruesomely to several pivotal scenes in the book. 

The story is told in the alternating points-of-view of Naomi and Kyle. The occasional news clipping or undelivered letter or transcript fill in the story. Do not miss the chapter names. There are plenty of suspects and red herrings to consider as the suspense builds. While I figured out the who relatively early, I did not figure out the why until the big reveal. Teen fans of gothic thrillers will race through this. I am not a fan of gothic thrillers for the very reason why this is so good. The suspense killed me. There were a few minor plot points that irked but not enough to take me out of the story. 

Too bad this is pubbing as a paperback. My students are going to pass this one around.

Two Heist Novels from Scholastic

It's tough to pull off a great heist, be it in real life, in the movies or in a book. Careful plotting and unbearable suspense are required in all three, which is why I usually read heist books in one sitting and can't watch heist movies in theaters because I get jittery and have to move around. This past summer, Scholastic released two from authors whose work I have enjoyed.

Loot by Jude Watson. 266 p. Scholastic Press, June, 2014. 9780545468022. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Even though the book opens with the main character's father plunging to his death and real menace threatens him, his sister and two cohorts at every turn, the tone is almost flippant or jaunty. I was tempted to tag the book humorous. I guess that's due to March and his gang's bravado. They truly responded poorly to adult authority. The dialogue was often laugh-out-loud funny but the suspense and the mystery kept a certain level of tension that slowly ratcheted up. That, and the non-stop action keeps the reader riveted and turning the pages as fast as possible. There's a curse, nefarious adults, nightmares involving falling from a cliff, and a cliff. Irresistible.

March's dad's dying words were, "Find jewels." Leading March to believe that he needed to find, you know, jewels. After all, Alfie was a jewel thief of international stature. March rarely attended school what with all the need to leave a variety of countries quickly. He's shocked to learn that it isn't jewels he needs to find, but Jewels, the twin sister he never knew he had. And she's none to pleased to learn about him. Nor does she mince words about her feelings for their dad. It seems that when they were small, Alfie, his wife and another partner in crime stole some cursed moonstones. Alfie's wife drowned, the partner was nabbed and imprisoned and Alfie got away, only something terrible would happen to the twins before their thirteenth birthday.

The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson. 240 p. Scholastic Inc. May, 2014. 9780545525527. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Jackson Greene is the king of the con at his school. Only, this year, he's gone straight after executing a legendary con the previous spring. His principal knows he's the culprit but has no proof and it's just killing him. To say he's gunning for Jackson is an understatement.

Jackson may have to come out of retirement though. He gets wind that his arch-nemisis, Keith Sinclair, Mr. Sinclair and Principal Kelsey are conspiring to rig the student council election. Since his former, almost girlfriend, Gaby is running and has some great ideas, Jackson can't just stand by and do nothing. 

It's all a bit over-the-top but it's pure fun with memorable characters, whip-fast dialogue and plenty of hilarity. Sure to please most middle grade readers but definitely seek out those dreaded reluctant readers and offer this one.

I book talked both these titles on Friday and have a waiting list as long as my arm so I'll be purchasing more copies.

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

353 p. Little Brown & Company, April, 2012. 9780316182881. (Review from arc supplied by the publisher.)

The brains at NASA decide to mark the 50th anniversary of the moonwalk and reignite interest in the space program by sending a crew that includes three teenagers to spend 172 hours on the moon performing experiments in a previously unknown research facility that had been built in the 70s. 

The three teens were chosen through a lottery system that was internationally promoted. Two are willing participants, each seeking escape, but the third, Mia, was a reluctant participant. Her parents submitted her name. She was intent on refusing until she realized that the trip could be great publicity for her band. 

Told in the third person from multiple points of view, the reader learns early on that there is something up on the moon. Each of the teens also experience eerie premonitions as well. Readers willing to overlook giant plot holes will find this creepy tale tense and atmospheric. It would make a great movie. I also think the cover is phenomenal. Moody black and white photographs are sprinkled throughout the story and some recovered "notes" follow part 3, Afterward. These were difficult to read in the arc form and the author's note was marked tk. I'd be interested in reading it.

This import from Norway was the author's YA debut. Give to fans of Sci/Fi thrillers.