Review by Booklist Review
A Jesuit prep school in suburban Pittsburgh serves as the setting for Bruno's (Ordinary Hazards, 2020) thoughtful second novel. Frankie is finishing up her senior year at St. Ignatius, where she receives free tuition because her adoptive mom is on the faculty, when a hockey player dies by suicide, reminding the community of two earlier deaths of players on the elite team. For a journalism class project, Frankie and her best friend, Shivani, decide to investigate the more mysterious of those deaths: star player Woolf Whiting, who died 18 years earlier in what his mother still insists was a murder. The novel shifts between Frankie's POV and the perspectives of Woolf's best friend, sister, and girlfriend. As Frankie investigates, she finds her own life connected with theirs in ways she didn't expect and begins to have second thoughts about an institution she has taken for granted. A finely crafted meditation on family, community, class, wealth, insidious power, and the limits of religion.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this solid outing, Bruno (Ordinary Hazards) uses the framework of a whodunit to drive at deeper questions of faith and family. At the prestigious St. Ignatius High School in the Pittsburgh suburbs, seniors Frankie Northrup and Shivani Badlani research the mysterious death 18 years ago of St. Ignatius hockey star Woolf Whiting for their journalism class. Woolf was found dead of an apparent overdose in the school's chapel during a game, and police labeled the incident a suicide after a halfhearted investigation. Frankie and Shivani interview those closest to Woolf at the time--his girlfriend, Susanna Mercer; his sister Maddie Whiting; and his best friend, Vince Mahoney--learning explosive secrets about their school in the process. Bruno nimbly toggles between Frankie and Shiv's investigation and chapters chronicling the lives of their interview subjects, playing fair with readers and planting a few major surprises along the way. For the most part, though, mystery-solving takes a backseat to weightier considerations of growing up and finding purpose. A less assured writer might have failed to make it all coalesce, but Bruno pulls it off, thanks to her keen sense of what's at stake for her teenage characters and Frankie's indelible voice. It's a winner. Agent: Samantha Shea, Georges Borchardt, Inc. (July)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Bruno's second novel introduces not-yet-18 Frankie, a Princeton-bound senior at St. Ignatius near Pittsburgh, where academic prestige has been eclipsed by decades of hockey victories. Frankie's mother is a teacher there, allowing Frankie to attend the elite institution. During Frankie's last semester, a senior hockey player takes his own life, sparking renewed interest in two past suicides of St. Ignatius hockey players. Pairing with her BFF Shiv for their journalism final project, the duo reexamines the older death of hockey star Woolf Whiting, whose corpse was found in the school chapel 18 years ago. Unexpected truths abound. Perennially youthful Powers is a careful Frankie, who looks in from the outside at the privilege that surrounds her. Powers easily lowers her registers for male characters--solemn Father Michael, mostly amiable Woolf, and quietly questioning Vince. VERDICT Clearer distinctions between Frankie's narration and the 18-year-old interstitials of what happened then would have elevated Powers's performance.
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