Six Months Later

September 23, 2013
Richards debuts with an intense psychological mystery about a high school senior who cannot remember the previous six months of her life or reconcile who she was then with who she is now. What’s changed? She has (somehow) aced her SATs and is on track to a top college, she has an inexplicable bruise on her head, and her best friend Maggie won’t speak to her anymore. All told, Chloe is beginning to worry that she’s going crazy. But the worst part is that Chloe is increasingly repulsed by her gorgeous former crush Blake—who is apparently now her boyfriend—and attracted to bad boy Adam. Whenever Chloe touches Adam, she has flashes of memory that lead her to confront her cagey therapist and investigate a fellow student’s sudden move across the country. Richards constructs Chloe’s fear, paranoia, and scheming with great care. Her novel has the feel of a high-stakes poker game in which every player has something to hide, and the cards are held until the very end. Ages 13–up. Agent: Cori Deyoe, 3 Seas Literary Agency.

Chloe calls herself "the last slacker standing" but figures she'll have all senior year to repair her tattered GPA. Instead, she wakes up to find six months have passed in which her world has changed beyond recognition--including herself. She's ratcheted up her GPA and achieved stratospheric SAT scores, thanks to the study group she can't remember participating in. She's shaken by the charged attraction she feels toward bad boy Adam, who shows up moments after she awakens in response to a call she doesn't remember making. Meanwhile, her feelings for Blake Tanner--gorgeous, sought-after and evidently now her boyfriend--have morphed from infatuation to fear. For the first time ever, Chloe's popular--but her best friend, Maggie, won't speak to her. Like Chloe's parents, the therapist she's been seeing for her panic attacks seems confused by Chloe's lack of enthusiasm for Blake and indifference to her stellar grades. The flashes of memory Chloe experiences with Adam are more troubling than confusing, but his warm presence is all she's got. Richards' use of the present tense is enormously effective here, one of the few novels in which suspense actively relies on readers' immersion in the now. As tension rises among these sharply observed characters, this smart, edgy thriller taps into the college-angst zeitgeist, where the price of high achievement might just be your soul. (Suspense. 13 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Chloe leads a mediocre life as a high school junior in a small Ohio town-until the day she falls asleep in study hall and wakes up to find it's six months later. She now has exceptional SAT scores, the perfect boyfriend whom she's been crushing on for years, and a buzzing social life. However, Chloe can't remember anything about her previous life. Nor can she remember why her best friend, Maggie, isn't speaking to her, or why her heart races whenever she sees bad-boy Adam, with whom she seems to be all too familiar. She knows that she should be happy about her new life, but everything feels wrong. As she tries to figure out what happened to her, she uncovers a chilling conspiracy surrounding her memory loss, and the only person she can trust is the one who won't take her calls. The story is well paced and beautifully written, with fully developed characters teens can easily relate to. This romantic thriller will leave readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page. Recommend it to fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay (Dutton, 2009) and Lissa Price's Starters (Delacorte, 2012).-Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 Chloe, an average student with a bit of a rebellious streak, wakes up in study hall one day not remembering the past six months. But suddenly she's popular, dating her longtime crush, being recruited by Ivy League colleges because of top SAT scores, and her best friend is no longer speaking to her. As Chloe tries to unravel her memories, she begins to uncover secrets more dangerous than she ever thought possible. The pressure and angst of precollege life, perfect grades, and test scores take center stage in this debut thriller. Readers are thrown right into the mystery alongside Chloe, and as the plot is slowly uncovered, the suspense rises to a shocking crescendo of events. Chloe is an intriguing character with plenty of gumption, and she makes for a splendid amateur detective. There is some romance sprinkled throughout with a supposed bad boy, and even this character has more depth than the average hunky lead. With several twists and surprises, this is a well-plotted mystery, sure to keep readers guessing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)