With sarcastic humor, cutting insight, and beautiful prose, Scott delivers a searing story of a teenage girl who thinks she may have killed her best friend, and her struggle to put the pieces of her life back together. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Amy used to sleep around, party hard and have a wild time with her best friend Julia-until Julia dies in a car accident. Readers meet 16-year-old Amy fresh out of rehab-a recovering alcoholic who is also trying to recover her will to live. Amy feels lost without Julia: she has no real friends and believes her parents not only don't know her but don't want to. The events leading up to Julia's death-which give Amy the impression that she killed her-unfold during Amy's post-rehab sessions with her therapist and her parents. Amy's letters to Julia sit between straight narrative chapters, and throughout Amy marks time by counting the days since Julia's death. The teenager's initial, severe alienation may account for the flat affect in the first half of the story, though as Amy reawakens to the possibility of moving on and life becoming meaningful again, Scott's (Living Dead Girl) prose becomes layered with emotion, some of it achingly sad. Amy's story stays mainly in guilt, despair and anger throughout, but shifts slightly toward hope as Amy moves through her grief. Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 11 Up-Sixteen-year-old Amy, an honor student returning to school in the fall following a brief stay in an alcohol treatment center, has isolated herself from her friends as punishment for the death of her best friend, Julia. In letters to "J," Amy provides insight into her own character as she reminisces about their shared exploits, including shoplifting, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, and pregnancy tests. It is through these letters, along with Amy's therapy sessions and eventual conversations with family and friends, that the teen acknowledges her role in the fatal car accident. Amy's parents try to overcompensate for their initial ignorance of their daughter's problems but remain clueless as to how to relate to her. All the while, Amy is aware of her need for their attention as she appreciates little things like cooking with her mother. At times slowed by descriptions of school cliques and Amy's rejection of them, the plot is elegantly carried by her honest, clear expression of how she feels about what she is going through.-Sue Lloyd, Franklin High School, Livonia, MI Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Tall, awkward Amy feels unloved by her parents, who are too smitten with each other to pay her any attention. Along with her beautiful, fearless, and free-spirited friend Julia, Amy turns to drinking and casual sex to feel loved. After a devastating car crash leaves Julia dead and Amy only slightly injured, Amy goes into rehab. There, a therapist gives her a journal, which Amy uses to write letters to Julia, each dated with the number of days after Julia's death. Amy recognizes the privileges of her upper-middle-class life, and both mocks and indulges her angst. Reminiscent of both John Green's Looking for Alaska (2005) and Davida Wills Hurwin's A Time for Dancing (1995), Scott examines the complex nature of friendship between teen girls and clearly delineates the fine line between the strong emotions of the title. More predictable than Green and less cathartic than Hurwin, Scott nevertheless offers a satisfying story of an engaging heroine successfully naming and confronting her demons.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2009 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.