Tamaki's fast-paced, psychological mystery follows a murder investigation, as narrated by two teens: Todd, the victim, who recently froze to death in the park after sustaining a head wound; and Georgia, a crime-show enthusiast troubled by Todd's death. As a ghost, Todd keeps tabs on the investigation, watching the police interrogate his classmates, his teachers, and his parents, while reflecting dispassionately on his lonely life as a bullied queer teen with few allies. Georgia, another bullied queer teen, is still in the thick of school and family drama, from her author mother's tendency to use Georgia's growing pains as writing fodder to her best friend Cassie's strange behavior around a former friend. The interplay between Todd's introspective observations and Georgia's lightly funny but vulnerable asides works well as they reconstruct Todd's last night alive. This is an immersive, suspenseful reading experience, though the final reveal, while distressingly sad, feels anticlimactic. Nevertheless, it should spark discussions about peer pressure, bystander syndrome, and what we owe to each other.

Teens Georgia and Todd would seem to have little in common, especially given that Todd is, well, dead. But when Todd's nude, frozen body is discovered in a local park, Georgia is intrigued by the mystery. She interrogates those around her until the answers begin pointing to suspects shockingly close to home. Meanwhile, Todd's ghost hovers nearby, watching and remembering. A brutal confrontation with the killer leads Georgia to an unsettling conclusion. But in solving the mystery of Todd's death and realizing how she and he are connected, Georgia, who's "felt lost for so long," can finally assert, "I know where I am." Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, rev. 7/19) skillfully weaves issues of power, vulnerability, and sexual orientation into the teen-ghost trope. The strong contrast between the two narrative strands -- self-conscious Georgia's raw, immediate first-person voice and loner Todd's more distant third-person perspective -- makes for a deeply engaging read. Georgia and Todd coalesce into fully formed characters through authentically rendered dialogue and compact yet substantial sentences that are impressive in their precision. A tightly constructed page-turner that poses big questions about character, morality, and truth.

A teen's death sparks an investigation.When the body of Todd Mayer, a local teen, is discovered buried in the snow in a park, the police investigate his old life-his family, classmates, teachers, and lack of friends (he was a target of vicious homophobia). Todd, the ghost of the dead teen, follows the investigation as he tries to recall how he died, catching glimpses of his past. Meanwhile, Georgia is feeling lost; she is also fed up with being seen as Molly, the friendless little girl from her author mother's children's books who is a thinly veiled version of Georgia herself. Georgia juggles her changing relationship with her brother, Mark; her crush on her new friend, rich, popular Carrie; and time spent digging into Todd's murder. When Georgia discovers something surprising about Mark, who attended the same private school as the victim, hidden information about Todd also comes to light. The alternating narration that switches between Todd's and Georgia's perspectives includes humor that balances discussions of bullying, mortality, secrets, and selfhood. The mystery elements are intriguing, but the characters and their relationships with friends and family would have benefited from more depth and exploration before the too-tidy ending. Georgia is biracial (she's described as "half Asian"); Todd and Carrie are White.A fast-moving story with a rushed ending. (Mystery. 12-18)