GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE

Short, sharp, and expertly crafted, this realistic YA is a portrait of a girl who will do whatever it takes to carve out a place for herself in the world.

Destiny cannot count on anyone but herself. Her mother has struggled with addiction for all of Destiny's seventeen years, moving them from town to town, bad boyfriend to bad boyfriend, including a particularly dark period in Texas, where Destiny ended up in a psychiatric hospital. But now they're in a small town in a new state and her mother's new boyfriend is sober and stable. And even more remarkable, Destiny has caught the eye of local golden boy Ryan.

But Destiny's fairy tale bubble bursts when Ryan says their summer romance has to give way to football season. She spirals hard, retreating into the same delusional and dissociative patterns that landed her in psychiatric care as a child, but this time the breakdown culminates in a pregnancy that can't possibly be real. Destiny's skill as an artist is alternately a lifeline and a millstone as she struggles to resurface and reconnect with reality.

Raw and intimate, fans of Kathleen Glasgow and Amber Smith will connect with the sharp-edged portrait of a young person in a crisis created by others. At under 50k words, Girl Reflected in Knife is a breathless, urgent read. Careful readers are rewarded with an elegantly constructed narrative structure that balances the grit of Destiny's harrowing tale. A twisted, modern fairy tale, or better still, a collection of dark, twisted fairytales all mixed together in one modern teenager's imagination.

Anica Mrose Rissi is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for kids and teens, including picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and YA. Her essays have been published by The Writer and The New York Times, and she plays fiddle in and writes lyrics for the band Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves. Anica grew up in Maine and spent many years in New York City, where she worked as an executive editor in children's book publishing. She currently lives in central New Jersey with her very good dog, Sweet Potato.