Starred Review Kalyn Spence's dad is in prison for killing a man before she was born. Her tough-talking alcoholic mother has raised Kalyn to love and respect her father and to not suffer fools or hypocrites. But it's not easy being known as the daughter of a murderer, so when Kalyn and her mom move back to Samsboro to look after Kalyn's grandmother, Kalyn starts school under a different name and creates a new identity for herself as sweet Southern belle Rose, hiding her family's secret and her attraction to girls. On her first day, she meets Phil and Gus, best buddies and school misfits. Phil is instantly besotted with Rose and deputizes Gus to find out if Rose will go out with him. Gus is ostracized not only because his speech and mobility are impaired due to cerebral palsy but also because his father was murdered Kalyn/Rose's father, as it turns out. Told in alternating chapters by Kalyn, Gus, and Phil, Morris finalist Thomas' poetic, figurative language beautifully defines each narrator. Although the plot devices are sometimes obvious, Thomas' forthright, sensitive treatment of homosexuality, class, race, and prejudice combine with fully developed characters to create a world peopled by marvelously real protagonists who have the courage to do the right thing.

In three voices and six "acts," Thomas' (When Light Left Us, 2018, etc.) latest plumbs the prejudices behind a murder that divided two families and their Kentucky town.What's in a name? Plenty. Gay, feminist Kalyn-Rose Spence's surname is synonymous with poverty and being targeted for harassment; the residents of Samsboro (aka "Shitsboro") never forgave her father for murdering a local golden boy decades earlier. But is he guilty? Wealthy, "gay and confused" Gus Peake, who has cerebral palsy, two moms, and a "glorious menagerie of issues" including aphasia, feels doomed to be "the disabled kid" or "the kid whose dad got murdered." When their pasts threaten their budding friendship, Shakespeare-inflected, uber-analytical classmate Phil tries to "keep Capulets and Montagues from clashing" as he struggles to develop a conscience despite his anti-social personality disorder. In alternating perspectives, the trio endeavor to forge their own identities as they seek clues that may reveal Gus' father's real killer. The mystery resolves in a last-minute rush, but the book's real stars are its poignantly explored issues: love, social class, sexuality, homophobia, and the cycles of poverty and abuse. Kalyn's conflicted, loving relationship with her dad is particularly well-examined. However, the teens' heavy-handed exposition and discussions of fictional tropes and their subversion risk making their characters feel as "manufactured" and "intentionally offbeat" as the teen-targeting goth store Gus browses in, marring their refreshingly intersectional diversity. Most characters default to white.Thought-provoking. (Mystery. 14-18)