I Am Margaret Moore

Lyrical writing distinguishes this haunting summer camp thriller as an enthralling literary mystery with crossover appeal. A thousand girls from all over the world, ages nine to 18, attend the Marshall Summer Naval School. On the shore of Lake Nanweshmot, the campers learn to sail, play tennis, ride horses, and practice semaphore. Margaret Moore, who reads as white, narrates as her three best friends—general’s daughter Flor Gómez, who is Venezuelan; Jordanian Nisreen Al-Shayab; and presumed-white Rose Winston—arrive at camp. After eight summers together, they have become a family. But dreamy Mar, who “falls in love too fast” and reads Emily Dickinson (whose poems appear throughout), has dark secrets concerning “a boy from Naval One,” which will change things for all of them. Via Mar’s urgent voice, intimate with the history of shared girlhoods and betrayal, Capin (Foul Is Fair) reveals over three sections the previous summer’s events, elevating plot twists that contribute mystery and terror to this ingenious story about misogyny and power dynamics. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Co. (Mar.)