YA – Very Bad People

Frick, Kit. Very Bad People. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2022. 978-1-534-44973-2. 416 p. $18.99. Grades 7-12.

It’s Upriver, the first trimester at elite boarding school Tipton Academy, and Calliope is a transfer junior. Leaving her tiny Adirondack Mountain town of Plover Lake – and her father and two younger sisters – is terrifying and exhilarating. Plover Lake is full of pitying stares, and it’s suffocating, but it’s all Calliope’s ever known. Determined to learn more about her mom who died tragically in a mysterious car accident that all three sisters survived, Calliope intends on taking advantage of the new opportunities afforded to Tiptonians. She has more goals than the Ivy League connections some of her classmates covet. As Calliope begins to adjust to her new setting, she is recruited by Haunt and Rail, an elusive and exclusive secret society that has fought for social justice causes since its founding in 1956. Both excited and nervous to be part of meaningful campus change, Calliope commits herself to Haunt and Rail’s cause, becoming a “ghost.” While Calliope feels more connected to Tipton and to her mom with each day, she feels like she’s losing the connection with her sisters and her friends back at Plover Lake. And with the Haunt and Rail meetings and “larks” (pranks) conducted in the middle of the night, she’s always tired. A possible connection between Haunt and Rail and the accident that killed her mom gives Calliope a new sense of purpose, but will she have time for her friends, her classes, her family, Haunt and Rail, and a possible boyfriend? As everything begins to pile up, Calliope has some choices to make, but they won’t be easy, especially when she has to keep such a huge part of her life a secret from everyone she loves.

THOUGHTS: Another compelling boarding school/secret society mystery, hand this one to fans of dramas like The Ivies, Truly Devious, or Looking for Alaska. Recommended for young adult collections.

Mystery          Maryalice Bond, South Middleton SD

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