Critically acclaimed author Leah Thomas blends a small-town setting with the secrets of a long-ago crime, in a compelling novel about breaking free from the past.In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence's name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym . . . or face the lingering anger of Samsboro's citizens, who refuse to forget the crime. Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he's either known as the "disabled kid" because of his cerebral palsy, or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself. When Gus meets Kalyn, her frankness is refreshing, and they form a deep friendship. Until their families' pasts emerge. And when the accepted version of the truth is questioned, Kalyn and Gus are caught in the center of a national uproar. Can they break free from a legacy of inherited lies and chart their own paths forward?
Publication Year: 2019
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0 02024 reads: 185/250
kalyn spence has returned to samsboro, kentucky, the town in which her incarcerated father killed someone. for her own safety, she adopts a new identity as rose poplawski. gus peake is only known by two things in samsboro: “the disabled kid” or the kid whose dad was murdered, but he just wants to be known as himself. when kalyn and gus meet, they become friends, but things get rocky when their families’ histories are uncovered.
this was a pretty interesting book. when i started it, i just thought the two mcs would become friends, find out kalyn’s dad murdered gus, have a falling-out, then become friends again. while that did indeed happen, there was also a mystery aspect to this. kalyn’s mom is determined to get kalyn’s dad out of jail, and the more kalyn and gus talk, the more they realize their dads’ real stories may not line up with what they’re been told by their moms and by the news.
i also appreciated how gus’s disabilities, cerebral palsy and aphasia, were represented. i am not an expert in cerebral palsy, so i can’t speak to that too much, but i think it was pretty accurate compared to real-life people i know with cerebral palsy. his aphasia was also represented very well! so far, i’ve only read three books with aphasia rep, but this one is definitely on the top. as a graduate student in speech-language pathology, i was not surprised to read in the acknowledgments that the author got help from her slp sister for this aspect.
unfortunately, there were several moments of ableism, but these were mostly challenged.
i’d recommend this to anyone wanting to read a YA book focusing on a platonic friendship and a decades-old mystery.
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