Boo

Topics readers have come across before—school shootings, fictional representations of the afterlife, murder mysteries—come together in this wildly imaginative read. When 13-year-old Oliver dies at school, he's not that surprised. He had a hole in his heart, which he figured would kill him one day. He is surprised to discover what the afterlife has in store. He gets to inhabit a subdivision of heaven called Town, where only 13-year-olds live. The denizens stay 13 for about 50 years, after which they disappear—to who knows where. Oliver is just getting the lay of the land when Johnny, a kid he knew from school, shows up. Johnny tells Oliver it wasn't his holey heart that killed him. They were both shot at school, and he thinks that the shooter is in Town, too. With the help of their friends, they go searching for the killer. Debut author Smith builds a world in Town—with rules and its own internal logic—in which readers will become completely immersed. Oliver and Johnny are flawed, leaving teens constantly wondering if one or both of them are unreliable. There are also clever details—some that will be obvious to teens, such as Oliver and Johnny's dorm being named for Frank and Joe Hardy—but others are more subtle. Subsequent reads will likely turn up even more layers of foreshadowing. A wholly satisfying if not wholly happy ending makes this a total package.