Girls Like Her

Accused of murdering a wealthy businessman and slated to be prosecuted as an adult, white 15-year-old Ruby Monroe faces a potential death sentence while awaiting trial in a Dallas prison where she is “just another wild thing in a cage.” Only Ruby knows the truth about the purported homicide—but that truth is buried under memories of abuse, exploitation, houselessness, and neglect. While preparing for trial and reflecting upon a quarrel with an estranged friend, Ruby confides in Cadence Ware, a white social worker whose personal history of trauma enables her to see beyond Ruby’s “difficult” veneer. As Ruby gains insight into how past experiences shape impulses and decisions, she and Dr. Ware make morally gray choices that could determine the trial’s outcome. Sumrow (The Inside Battle) crafts suspense through a compelling, patchwork narrative that combines fictional press releases, letters, notes, legal memos, and close third-person prose. Skilled pacing transforms a typical ripped-from-the-headlines premise into a nail-biting investigation of financial precarity and child sex trafficking informed by Sumrow’s work as a lawyer, as disclosed in an author’s note. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jonathan Rosen, Seymour Agency. (June)