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Reviewed by: Becki Truelson, High School Librarian Title: College Girl, Missing
Author: Shawn Cohen
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 9-12, Adult Genre/Type of Book: True Crime
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: This book discusses a missing person and the events leading up to the disappearance. It includes scenes of college students drinking and using drugs.
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: My students are discovering and loving true crime titles.
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
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Review:
Raise your hand if you love true crime stories! TikTok, Netflix and podcasts have turned young people on to true crime in recent years. My students have increasingly asked for true crime titles. This can get a bit tricky because many have content that is not appropriate for high school readers. College Girl, Missing by Shawn Cohen is, in my opinion, the perfect story that young true crime readers want.
Lauren Spierer, a college sophomore, went missing after a night of partying with friends in 2011 on the campus of Indiana University. 13 years later there is still no explanation for her disappearance. Although she was with several of her peers during the evening and was seen at various places throughout the night, at 4:15 am she left her friend’s apartment to walk to her dorm just one block away. She was never seen again. Shawn Cohen has been an investigator since the very beginning of this case. Although the leads seemed to go cold and the case has faded from front page news, Cohen decided that revisiting key places and trying again to interview witnesses may turn up new information. This is the story of that quest. I was riveted and finished this book in record time. It is compelling without getting too bogged down on the legal side of the case. Cohen kept this a very human story – one of decisions, mistakes, truth, lies, and devastation. Lauren and her family are everyday people, which makes the story very relatable. If nothing else, it is a cautionary tale of how a night of partying and “fun” can turn tragic. Must-have for a high school true crime section!
Number of party hats:
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website