Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Įveryone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago-except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Also adding mystery and romantic intrigue is the clandestine “Captain Lyric,” who corresponds and seems to acknowledge Alexi’s pain through covert song lyrics left on a school desk.Ī story that resonates. The perpetrator’s identity, confounded by plenty of red herrings, remains a mystery until the very end. Even more realistic are Alexi’s reactions to the rape as she wonders why she couldn’t utter the word no, whether a rape actually occurred and how her family will react.

Stevens’ debut effort keeps it real and never preachy as Alexi and her BFFs question their sexuality and relationship expectations. As a tentative friendship blossoms, Alexi and Bodee become allies-and more-as they help each other deal with their life-changing traumas and face recovery together. After his abusive father kills his mother, he’s invited to finish the school year at Alexi’s home. But socially awkward Bodee, aka “Kool-Aid Kid” for his penchant for temporary hair coloring, knows she has a secret-because he has one too.

Now Alexi is “faking normal” to protect the perpetrator and try to keep the event in the past. Only the self-inflicted scratches on the 16-year-old’s neck reveal any sign that someone close to her coerced her into having sex at a football party. Reminiscent of Melinda in Speak, Alexi tries to find her voice after being raped.

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens