Two can keep a secret

Review by New York Times Review

An emotionless world where feelings are a commodity. A murderer pursuing a homecoming queen. These suspenseful novels showcase teenage ingenuity. WITH THRILLERS ON THE RISE 1? young adult literature, novelists are asking a question that adult authors and filmmakers have posed for years: "Who can you really trust?" The difference is that with Y.A., the answer generally isn't nobody. It's not that the stakes aren't high for teenagers. In four new novels, love, friendship and identity prove to be fraught - even deadly - propositions. Still, at some point in their struggle, the main characters decide to trust someone. And that, as the poet says, makes all the difference. s. E. grove's provocative new novel, the WANING AGE (Viking, 273 pp., $18.99; ages 12 and up), isn't overtly political, but it extrapolates from what might gently be called the downward trend in empathy in some pockets of America. Natalie Peña is an 18-yearold hotel maid living in San Francisco in a dystopian near-future. In her desensitized world, people lose all capacity for emotion at about 10, psychotic gangs called Fish ravage the city, and hateful 1-percenters buy "synaffs" from a pharmaceutical behemoth named RealCorp just so they can feel. Love, fury and agony have become playthings and status symbols - Botox for the heart. This being a dystopian novel, the folks at RealCorp clearly aren't the good guys. Early on, Natalie discovers that they've kidnapped her precious 11-year-old brother, Calvino, for testing. Calvino has never "waned," possibly because of the trauma surrounding his mom's death. He is a true empath and hence an invaluable lab rat. Grove, author of the "Mapmakers" trilogy, mixes action, noir, bram science and moral philosophy here. The book has its shaggy moments, as when it bogs down by distinguishing emotions from instincts. But at its best, "The Waning Age" is visceral and disarmingly smart. Natalie's quest to free Cal - and Cal's increasingly desperate loneliness at RealCorp - becomes gripping. And Grove refuses to write down to her audience, which makes her kin to her main character. Natalie may just barely remember what it means to feel, but she's as defiant and loyal a big sister as anyone could ask for. IT'S been said that there are only seven plots in existence: the slaying of a monster, the rise from rags to riches and so on. Karen M. McManus's debut smash, "One of Us Is Lying," a crackling murder mystery about high school detention, reminded us to add an eighth to the list: "The Breakfast Club." Her new novel, two can keep a secret (IF ONE IS DEAD) (Delacorte, 352 pp., $19.99; ages 12 and up), may be titled and packaged to look as much like a sequel as the law will allow, but it's actually a different beast - unfortunately, a tamer one. The new novel is set in Echo Ridge, Vt., that "Echo" being a wink from the author: It seems that whoever killed the homecoming queen five years ago has either returned or inspired a gloating copycat now targeting this year's festivities. "Two" unspools more slowly than "One," and the mystery doesn't deepen as the townspeople gossip - it just gets more convoluted. We warm to the alternating narrators as they warm to each other: Malcolm, "the band nerd with the disreputable family," and Ellery, the true-crime buff whose mom is in rehab. But there's a solar system of others meant to distract us from the true killer and, honestly, they're just kind of distracting. McManus is a gifted writer with a devious mind for crime. She could have done more to transform these scary-movie tropes, just as she jolted "The Breakfast Club." Both her novels trade on the idea that even teenagers have secrets worth lying and possibly dying for - which is empowering, in an odd way. But "Two Can Keep a Secret" is a holding gesture rather than an advance. Read it, but know that McManus has more electrifying novels to come. WHAT ARE HEROIC KNIGHTS supposed to do once they've finished saving the kingdom and it's time to break up the band? Open a theme restaurant? Release solo albums? E. K. Johnston's sly, funny, foamy adventure THE AFTERWARD (Dutton, 337 pp., $17.99; ages 12 and up) intertwines a quest to vanquish an evil old god with the aftermath of the expedition, in which our heroes try to establish a new normal in a world where people sing ballads about their awesomeness. "The Afterward" is written as Arthurian high fantasy and takes place in a land called Cadrium, which, appealingly, doesn't have our dogmatic notions of gender and sexuality. Virtually everyone in the brave cast of characters is a young woman or identifies as such. What pulls you along, more than the scuffling over an all-powerful "godsgem," is the love story between the thrill-seeking thief named Olsa and the stouthearted apprentice Kalanthe, whom she sweetly refers to as "my brave nearlya-knight." The structure of "The Afterward" is trickier than it needs to be. It not only moves back and forth through time but also alternates between first and third person. (Whoever decided that the book could forgo the convention of putting characters' names at the beginning of each chapter they narrated was ... incorrect.) But the gender flip is effortless and enlivening: "I leaned into her, and she looked down at me. Then, because I was a thief, I stole a kiss." Even the less vivid chapters have rousing set pieces, and Johnston's love for storytelling is catching. Here's hoping "The Afterward" becomes the first m a series. Kalanthe and Olsa's happily ever after will be like no one else's. the first test of a whodunit is how heartstopping and strange a thing has actually been dun. In SPIN (Scholastic, 400 pp., $17.99; ages 12 and up) Lamar Giles (no relation) nails the murder: An up-and-coming young D. J. named Paris Secord is found in an "almost religious" tableau, slumped over her turntables and bleeding from the head. Giles also puts a pair of memorable "detectives" on the case: two of Paris's sharp-elbowed high school friends, Kya and Fuse, who formerly vied for her attention. The girls try to set aside their mutual distrust and team up to solve their friend's killing, partly to exonerate themselves but mostly because they don't trust the police to understand how deeply Paris's life mattered. "Spin" has jolts and misdirection. It has duplicitous bloggers, avaricious music executives and sadistic fans in white masks. But what's even more impressive is the subtle stuff you almost don't notice because Giles wears his intellect so lightly: the masterly knowledge of hip-hop and R&B; the command of technology's uses and abuses; the discerning ear for the way high schoolers talk, both to one another and to grown-ups. Giles understands the complex force field between generations. He knows that when parents and grandparents say they "expect more" from teenagers, it's often because they haven't bothered to figure out who the teenagers actually are. A two-time nominee for an Edgar (as in Allan Poe) award, Giles is also a terrific plotter. Yes, there's a character who so obviously might be the murderer that he/she can't possibly be the murderer. But evaluating suspects is part of the ritual and the fun, and everyone here feels palpably real. At one point, someone compares Kya and Fuse to Veronica Mars. He may not know what a compliment that is. "Spin" champions the resourcefulness of teenagers and pities the grown-ups - villainous or just clueless - who underestimate them. JEFF GILES is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of the series "The Edge of Everything."

Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 2, 2019]

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Review by Booklist Review

McManus follows up her smash hit debut, One of Us Is Lying (2017), with another twisted mystery centered around wily teens. Echo Ridge is an idyllic small town in all ways but one: five years ago, homecoming queen Lacy Kildare was strangled, her body left in the presciently named Murderland theme park. The park changed its name, but the town never moved on Lacy's body may have been the first one to turn up, but she wasn't the first girl to go missing. Ellery and her twin brother, Ezra, have just moved to Echo Ridge to live with their grandmother while their mom, whose own twin vanished in high school, undergoes a stint in rehab. When another girl goes missing, true-crime obsessive Ellery is determined to find the truth. But Echo Ridge is dangerous, and she and her family may be more involved than she knows. This is as much a social commentary as it is a layered mystery, and a somewhat abrupt finale won't keep readers from speeding their way to the end.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2018 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

A dead body in the middle of the road (the high school's science teacher) welcomes twins Ellery and Ezra Corcoran, 17, to their new home in Echo Ridge, Vt., where they've been sent to live with their estranged grandmother during their mother Sadie's court-appointed rehab for opioid addiction. Ellery, a true-crime buff, uses the opportunity to look into Echo Ridge's notorious unsolved mysteries: the disappearance of Sadie's identical twin sister after Sadie was crowned homecoming queen 23 years earlier, and the murder of Lacey Kilduff, the homecoming queen found strangled at Murderland, the local Halloween theme park, five years ago. After the science teacher dies, Ellery is nominated for the homecoming court, and someone begins to threaten Ellery and the other two nominees for queen, tagging signs and promising a Murderland redux. When one of the two possible queens goes missing, Ellery dons her amateur detective hat, putting herself and her loved ones in danger. With complex characters and intricate plotting, McManus (One of Us Is Lying) delivers a fast-paced, twisty whodunit. Ages 14-up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Jan.) c Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up--When 17-year-old twins Ellery and Ezra's mother goes into rehab, they move across the country to live with their grandmother in Echo Ridge, VT. The night they arrive, they discover the body of the high school biology teacher, who appears to be the victim of a hit and run, and the mysteries multiply from there. Ellery and Ezra quickly become friends with Mia and Malcolm, two outsiders at school who have connections with the murder of a high school girl five years earlier. Ellery, a true crime fan, is determined to uncover all of the town's secrets. Then Ellery is targeted as the next possible victim. The audio benefits from multiple narrators; Sophie Amoss reads the part of Ellery, while Kirby Heyborne performs the part of Malcolm. Amoss deftly shows Ellery's insatiable curiosity and inability to let things lie while Heyborne performs Malcolm in an understated style that accurately reflects his overwhelming desire to remain unnoticed. As the pace intensifies, listeners become invested in the many mysteries. VERDICT Give this to your thriller fans, especially those who enjoyed the author's first book, One of Us is Lying.--Julie Paladino, formerly with East Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

Twins Ezra and Ellery are sent to their grandmother in small-town Vermont after their mom enters opioid rehab. There, true-crime aficionado Ellery researches two local mysteries--while finding herself on the receiving end of some pretty creepy threats. Ellery's narrative alternates with the viewpoint of Malcolm, a boy who has been implicated in one of the prior crimes. This is an enjoyably twisty whodunit that doesn't take itself too seriously. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

History threatens to repeat itself in a small town known for disappearing teen girls.When their mother is suddenly sent to rehab, twins Ellery and Ezra Corcoran are uprooted from California to live with their grandmother in Vermont. True-crime-obsessed Ellery knows the town is infamous for girls going missing. Her own aunt, her mother's twin, disappeared 23 years ago, never to be found. Just five years ago, Lacey Kilduff was found murdered in nearby Murderland, a Halloween theme park. All eyes are on the twins as the new kids in town, and Ellery's pulled between the popular girls and Malcolm Kelly, the younger brother of Declan, Lacey's boyfriend and the person everyone suspects murdered her. Disturbing acts of vandalism pop up, threatening a sequel to events at Murderland. When Ellery's nominated for homecoming queen, the threats begin to target her and the other princesses, and no matter what he does, Malcolm keeps ending up at the wrong place at the wrong time, making for an easy scapegoat. Alternating between Ellery's and Malcolm's perspectives, the mystery unfurls at a deliciously escalating pace, filled with believable red herrings and shocking twists. Readers will furiously turn pages until the satisfying end. Though the students are predominantly white, Ellery and Ezra are biracial (white and Latinx), and Ezra is gay. Malcolm is white, and his best friend is a bisexual Korean-American girl.Masterfully paced with well-earned thrills and spooky atmosphere worth sinking into. (Thriller. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Ellery   Friday, August 30     If I believed in omens, this would be a bad one.   There's only one suitcase left on the baggage carousel. It's bright pink, covered with Hello Kitty stickers, and definitely not mine.   My brother, Ezra, watches it pass us for the fourth time, leaning on the handle of his own oversized suitcase. The crowd around the carousel is nearly gone, except for a couple arguing about who was supposed to keep track of their rental car reservation. "Maybe you should take it," Ezra suggests. "Seems like whoever owns it wasn't on our flight, and I bet they have an interesting wardrobe. A lot of polka dots, probably. And glitter." His phone chimes, and he pulls it out of his pocket. "Nana's outside."   "I can't believe this," I mutter, kicking the toe of my sneaker against the carousel's metal side. "My entire life was in that suitcase."   It's a slight exaggeration. My actual entire life was in La Puente, California, until about eight hours ago. Other than a few boxes shipped to Vermont last week, the suitcase contains what's left.   "I guess we should report it." Ezra scans the baggage claim area, running a hand over his close-cropped hair. He used to have thick dark curls like mine, hanging in his eyes, and I still can't get used to the cut he got over the summer. He tilts his suitcase and pivots toward the information desk. "Over here, probably."   The skinny guy behind the desk looks like he could still be in high school, with a rash of red pimples dotting his cheeks and jawline. A gold name tag pinned crookedly to his blue vest reads "Andy." Andy's thin lips twist when I tell him about my suitcase, and he cranes his neck toward the Hello Kitty bag still making carousel laps. "Flight 5624 from Los Angeles? With a layover in Charlotte?" I nod. "You sure that's not yours?"   "Positive."   "Bummer. It'll turn up, though. You just gotta fill this out." He yanks open a drawer and pulls out a form, sliding it toward me. "There's a pen around here somewhere," he mutters, pawing half-heartedly through a stack of papers.   "I have one." I unzip the front of my backpack, pulling out a book that I place on the counter while I feel around for a pen. Ezra raises his brows when he sees the battered hardcover.   "Really, Ellery?" he asks. "You brought In Cold Blood on the plane? Why didn't you just ship it with the rest of your books?"   "It's valuable," I say defensively.   Ezra rolls his eyes. "You know that's not Truman Capote's actual signature. Sadie got fleeced."   "Whatever. It's the thought that counts," I mutter. Our mother bought me the "signed" first edition off eBay after she landed a role as Dead Body #2 on Law & Order four years ago. She gave Ezra a Sex Pistols album cover with a Sid Vicious autograph that was probably just as forged. We should've gotten a car with reliable brakes instead, but Sadie's never been great at long-term planning. "Anyway, you know what they say. When in Murderland . . ." I finally extract a pen and start scratching my name across the form.   "You headed for Echo Ridge, then?" Andy asks. I pause on the second c of my last name and he adds, "They don't call it that anymore, you know. And you're early. It doesn't open for another week."   "I know. I didn't mean the theme park. I meant the . . ." I trail off before saying town and shove In Cold Blood into my bag. "Never mind," I say, returning my attention to the form. "How long does it usually take to get your stuff back?"   "Shouldn't be more than a day." Andy's eyes drift between Ezra and me. "You guys look a lot alike. You twins?"   I nod and keep writing. Ezra, ever polite, answers, "We are."   "I was supposed to be a twin," Andy says. "The other one got absorbed in the womb, though." Ezra lets out a surprised little snort, and I bite back a laugh. This happens to my brother all the time; people overshare the strangest things with him. We might have almost the same face, but his is the one everyone trusts. "I always thought it would've been cool to have a twin. You could pretend to be one another and mess with people." I look up, and Andy is squinting at us again. "Well. I guess you guys can't do that. You aren't the right kind of twins."   "Definitely not," Ezra says with a fixed smile.   I write faster and hand the completed form to Andy, who tears off the top sheets and gives me the yellow carbon. "So somebody will get in touch, right?" I ask.   "Yep," Andy says. "You don't hear from them tomorrow, call the number at the bottom. Have fun in Echo Ridge."   Ezra exhales loudly as we head for the revolving door, and I grin at him over my shoulder. "You make the nicest friends."   He shudders. "Now I can't stop thinking about it. Absorbed. How does that even happen? Did he . . . No. I'm not going to speculate. I don't want to know. What a weird thing to grow up with, though, huh? Knowing how easily you could've been the wrong twin."   We push through the door into a blast of stifling, exhaust-filled air that takes me by surprise. Even on the last day of August, I'd expected Vermont to be a lot cooler than California. I pull my hair off my neck while Ezra scrolls through his phone. "Nana says she's circling because she didn't want to park in a lot," he reports.   I raise my brows at him. "Nana's texting and driving?"   "Apparently."   I haven't seen my grandmother since she visited us in California ten years ago, but from what I can remember, that seems out of character.   We wait a few minutes, wilting in the heat, until a forest-green Subaru station wagon pulls up beside us. The passenger-side window rolls down, and Nana sticks her head out. She doesn't look much different than she does over Skype, although her thick gray bangs appear freshly cut. "Go on, get in," she calls, side-eyeing the traffic cop a few feet from us. "They won't let you idle for more than a minute." She pulls her head back in as Ezra wheels his solitary suitcase toward the trunk.   When we slide into the backseat Nana turns to face us, and so does a younger woman behind the steering wheel. "Ellery, Ezra, this is Melanie Kilduff. Her family lives down the street from us. I have terrible night vision, so Melanie was kind enough to drive. She used to babysit your mother when she was young. You've probably heard the name."   Ezra and I exchange wide-eyed glances. Yes. Yes, we have.   Sadie left Echo Ridge when she was eighteen, and she's only been back twice. The first time was the year before we were born, when our grandfather died from a heart attack. And the second time was five years ago, for Melanie's teenage daughter's funeral.   Ezra and I watched the Dateline special--"Mystery at Murderland"--at home while our neighbor stayed with us. I was transfixed by the story of Lacey Kilduff, the beautiful blond homecoming queen from my mother's hometown, found strangled in a Halloween theme park. Airport Andy was right; the park's owner changed its name from Murderland to Fright Farm a few months later. I'm not sure the case would have gotten as much national attention if the park hadn't had such an on-the-nose name.   Or if Lacey hadn't been the second pretty teenager from Echo Ridge--and from the same exact street, even--to make tragic headlines.   Sadie wouldn't answer any of our questions when she got back from Lacey's funeral. "I just want to forget about it," she said whenever we asked. Which is what she's been saying about Echo Ridge our entire lives.   Ironic, I guess, that we ended up here anyway. Excerpted from Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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