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What Happened to Rachel Riley?

by Claire Swinarski

A school mystery assembled from clues

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A school mystery assembled from clues

At East Middle School, Anna Hunt’s question about Rachel Riley’s sudden fall from popularity becomes the subject of a podcast investigation. Social media posts, passed notes, and other evidence give the mystery a contemporary, media-aware structure, while the changing picture of Rachel’s place at school raises questions about rumor, reputation, and what can be known from fragments. The source also frames the novel around a #MeToo message, placing its eighth-grade social world in conversation with issues of power and accountability. As Anna’s inquiry widens, the story foregrounds the consequences of asking difficult questions and pursuing answers within a community that resists scrutiny.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Middle-grade readers interested in school mysteries and clue-based investigations.
  • Readers curious about social media, podcasts, and how information circulates among classmates.
  • Readers seeking fiction that addresses reputation, power, and accountability in a school setting.

Themes

School reputation and social exclusionInvestigation and evidenceSocial media and storytellingPower and accountability

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

  • ALA Notable Children's Book
  • Regional Indie Bestseller
  • Audie Award Winner
  • Edgar Award Nominee
  • Cybils Award Nominee
  • YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
  • New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
  • Chicago Public Library Best of the Best
  • Amazon Best Book of the Year
  • SLJ Best Book of the Year
  • California Young Readers Medal winner
  • Texas Lone Star Reading List
  • Capital Choices Noteworthy Book for Children
  • BookPage Best Book of the Year
  • Elizabeth Burr/Sheridan Worzalla Award for the most distinguished work in children's literature

 

In this engrossing and inventive contemporary middle grade novel that's Where'd You Go, Bernadette with a #MeToo message, an eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly popular girl is now the pariah of her new school.

Anna Hunt may be the new girl at East Middle School, but she can already tell there's something off about her eighth-grade class. Rachel Riley, who just last year was one of the most popular girls in school, has become a social outcast. But no one, including Rachel Riley herself, will tell Anna why.

As a die-hard podcast enthusiast, Anna knows there's always more to a story than meets the eye. So she decides to put her fact-seeking skills to the test and create her own podcast around the question that won't stop running through her head: What happened to Rachel Riley?

With the entire eighth grade working against her, Anna dives headfirst into the evidence. Clue after clue, the mystery widens, painting an even more complex story than Anna could have anticipated. But there's one thing she's certain of: If you're going to ask a complicated question, you better be prepared for the fallout that may come with the answer.

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