The Half Life of Molly Pierce

Gr 8 Up—In this mystery unraveled in reverse, Molly begins to fit together pieces of a life only half-remembered, due to frequent blackouts. After witnessing a tragic accident during which a dying stranger seems to know her, memories of those blackout periods begin to return. When the teen connects with the stranger's brother, she feels an intense, familiar love, and Molly questions what she thinks she knows about herself. The protagonist's Dissociative Identity Disorder allows her characterization to unfold slowly, the narrative building on short bursts of memories that go further back in time, revealing more secrets further in to the story. The disorientation at the novel's start begins to settle as the flashbacks occur, and the sense of urgency for the two alternating time lines to merge intensifies with the girl's increasing melancholy and thoughts of self-harm. Molly's relationship with her other identity, Mabel, is most developed and therefore most interesting. The race to uncover Molly's truth will keep readers turning pages.—Sarah Townsend, Norfolk Public Library, VA