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Reviewed by: Kathy Jaccarino, High School Librarian Title: Not Like Other Girls
Author: Meredith Adamo
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 10-12 Genre/Type of Book: Mystery/Coming of Age
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Some risky behaviors- drinking/sexual assault
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: The reviews were very good, starred from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. The author is from Rochester, and the book in set in the city.
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
Best friends forever? Or at least until you're not, or they disappear!
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Review:
Although this book is a solid mystery, there are also other strong themes that weave their way into this very readable and engaging novel. It is a mystery, as well as a story of power, finding your voice, sexual assault, and the devastating end to friendships. Jo is one of “those girls.” Not a nice girl, trouble, reckless, wild, slut…are all the things that Jo is called. At 15 years old, her best friend, Maddie turns on Jo and naked pictures of Jo are released on social media, thus ends Maddie and Jo’s friendship, which then ostracizes Jo from all their friends. Prior to this Jo experiences an assault by Maddie’s much older brother. Maddie does not recognize these sexual encounters for what they are- an assault. Jo’s parents are loving, but distant. Jo’s mother especially struggles to understand the distant Jo. One day, at school, during their senior year, surprisingly, Maddie reaches out to Jo for help, and then disappears. First it is believed she was abducted, then there is evidence that perhaps she ran away?! Jo is one of the few people that believe something is amiss. She turns to Hudson to help her. She looks to Hudson as a way back into their friend group so that she can investigate the circumstances of Maddie’s disappearance. A “fake” relationship with Hunter in concocted as a ruse to integrate her way back into the fold. This fake relationship begins to be very real for Jo and Hudson as they work together to unravel the mystery behind Maddie’s disappearance. Throughout all of this Jo comes to realize that she is indeed a good person who has value. She also learns that she needs to speak the truth to her parents, especially her mother, to get them to understand all she has suffered. Throughout the novel, woven into the mystery, Jo comes to realize that she was assaulted, and that she needs to claim and use her voice to let people know what she has suffered. Jo and Hudson come to realize that Maddie, and their friends, may not be who they perceive to be.
What makes this book even more engaging is that it takes place in Rochester! References to local places (Java’s) and locations are fun to recognize! Not sure if some of suburban students will catch these connections, but it is fun to read about our local area. There was some confusion, I felt, with some of the secondary characters. I had a hard time understanding their roles in the mystery, or not...there are indications that they are involved, then they are not. I felt some of their development was misleading?!
Not sure if I could find a place for this in the curriculum. It is a great recreational read that students who like a good mystery will be well served to pick up.
Number of party hats:
Find other resources for this book at teachingbooks.net
For more information about this book, see the publisher's website