Review_CHILDREN’S
well as concern among friends and rivals
at the Christian school, located on a
remote Utah mountain. Among those
concerned are her boyfriend, basketball
star Aiden; her roommate, Neesha; and
Evan, a student who’s been stalking her.
Did Emma find a way to escape the
school, or was she taken? Was her van-
ishing connected to her selling an experi-
mental study drug to most of the student
body? As the mystery behind Emma’s
disappearance deepens, other secrets—
including Redemption’s strange past and
true purpose—come to light, prompting
Aiden, Neesha, and their new allies to seek
answers and explanations at any cost.
Miller (A Lite Too Bright) crafts an unpre-
dictable, twisty story of ambition, com-
petition, and manipulation. While a
multiperspective approach, coupled with
interview transcripts and student journal
entries, allows Miller to get inside his
characters’ heads, slow pacing and a
sometimes meandering story line may keep
readers from becoming fully invested in
the mystery. Ages 13–up. (Apr.)
Regenerate
Emily Goldthwaite. Rainfly, $14.99 paper
(330p) ISBN 978-1-73306-880-2
Goldthwaite’s engaging, if didactic,
debut—a dystopian romance concerned
with social engineering, Panopticon tactics,
and government-sanctioned “neuropathic
disruptors”—explores the value of human
interaction. Like her friends, Averielle
Gouch, 17, is a GAP (Grandparent
Adopted Posterity), one of the lucky
children who has survived their Lost
parents—a generation too addicted to tech
for child rearing. Heralded as preservers of
the human race, the GAPs have their lives
planned and tracked by nebulous
Organizers. Averi has been predicted to
enter into a relationship with Raxtin
North, her best friend, and everything
seems to be going to plan, until transfer
Lander Lazarus Finch appears in Averi’s
social circle. Despite Lander’s cockiness,
there’s something about him that draws
Averi’s affections. As Averi grows closer to
Lander, the Organizers decide to reunite her
with a long-lost Gran, Jo, outside their
village walls. But Lander and Jo know too
much about their cosseted world, and it’s
darker than it appears. Though the dysto-
pian framework and characters are familiar,
the pacing is quick, and Goldthwaite
succeeds in highlighting issues with tech
dependence and societal commodification
amid a story of compassion and friendship.
Ages 13–up. (Self-published)The Best Laid Plans
Cameron Lund. Razorbill, $18.99 (368p)
ISBN 978-0-593-11491-9
Everyone at Keely’s tiny Vermont high
school has known each other forever, and
since her lifelong best friend, Andrew, is a
guy, the other guys at school seem to think
she’s one, too. She can just about bear being
one of two known senior class female vir-
gins, until, at her 18th birthday party, she
walks in on the other one getting it on. So
when she gets a job at the local video store
and her handsome college-student
coworker, Dean, seems to like her—or at
least the more sophisticated version of
herself she’s pretending to be—she decides
that it’s time. Worried that Dean will
freak when he finds out she’s a virgin, she
asks Andrew, who’s known as a bit of a
player, for help. In her debut, Lund takes
the right-under-your-nose rom-com trope
to the extreme, and when the scales finally
fall from Keely’s eyes, readers may wish
the endless detours could have been
avoided. Still, watching Keely take risks
and be brave once she knows what she
wants is satisfying. Ages 14–up. Agent:
Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (Apr.)Unscripted
Nicole Kronzer. Amulet, $17.99 (336p)
ISBN 978-1-4197-4084-8
Seventeen-year-old Zelda Bailey-Cho is
ready to spend her summer at a prominent
Colorado improv camp with her step-
brother, Will, and his boyfriend. Landing
a spot on the camp’s varsity team is the
first step toward her goal of landing on
SNL by age 25, but she quickly realizes
the camp, while founded by a notable
female comic, is rife with sexism and toxic
masculinity. Out of 200 campers, only
five—Zelda’s bunkmates in counselor-less
cabin Gilda Radner—are female; Zelda is
the first to make varsity in 15 years. Ben,
the 20-year-old varsity coach, shows an
immediate interest in Zelda, which both
flatters and unsettles her, but it seems
harmless next to the constant sexism and
sexual innuendo of her varsity teammates.
As the general harassment intensifies, and