Please Don’t Tell

In Tims’s suspenseful debut, the death of a teenager sets off a dangerous string of events. High school juniors Joy and Grace Morris are identical twins, but they couldn’t be more different. Grace is studious, while Joy struggles academically; Grace is shy, and Joy is loud and wild. Both girls have secrets. Joy believes that the death of a classmate, Adam, by a fall into a quarry, is her fault—that she drank too much and lashed out at him because of how he took advantage of Grace. Someone soon begins blackmailing Joy, claiming to have witnessed her pushing Adam to his death, using her to carry out an agenda with major repercussions for people around her. Told through the twins’ alternating points of view, Tims’s narrative is a study in opposites, as well as a window into the girls’ insecurities, hopes, and mutual devotion, all set within the framework of a compelling mystery. While keeping the tension dialed up, Tims expertly depicts the awkward uncertainties of teen life and the sometimes-blurry line between right and wrong. Ages 13–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency. (May)