Dangerous Girls

Anna Chevalier arrives at a wealthy prep school near Boston as the new girl. Charismatic Elise draws her into a glamorous circle of friends, and Anna falls for Tate, the golden boy of the group.

Then the friends take a spring break trip to Aruba in their senior year, and Elise is stabbed to death. Anna is arrested, held in jail and put on trial for the murder.

The narration moves between two time frames: the months before the trip, and the trial, which unfolds in the present tense. Anna tells both in her own voice. Around her account sit deposition excerpts, news transcripts and social media posts, so the reader sees how outsiders read her as well.

That public picture of Anna and what she knows about herself pull sharply apart. This is a standalone young adult thriller, first published in 2013 under a pen name of Abby McDonald. Whether Anna is guilty stays unanswered until the final pages.