Burn for Burn

July 30, 2012
Set on fictional Jar Island, this first collaboration between Han (We’ll Always Have Summer) and Vivian (The List) follows three teenage girls bonded by a chilling quest for revenge. Popular Lillia is angry with her friend Alex, who spent the night with her 14-year-old sister after a party; tough girl Kat wants to sting her former friend Rennie, who has been spreading lies about her for years; and Mary, newly back on the island, is obsessed with the school quarterback, who humiliated her five years ago. Although they aren’t friends, the girls promise to work together in all three acts of revenge. Each girl narrates, flashing back to memories of betrayal and describing their pranks, which escalate from distributing Alex’s private writing to drugging another target. First in a planned trilogy, this fast-moving book offers an atmospheric setting and enough drama to captivate readers as they decide whether revenge is ever justified. The authors leave many unanswered questions, including the nature of a supernatural subplot that distracts somewhat from the book’s focus on retribution, guilt, and status. Ages 14–up. Agent: Emily Van Beek, Folio Literary Management.