Little Peach meets We Were Liars in this haunting YA debut about a troubled teen searching for her birth mom who uncovers disturbing family secrets along the way. After her father passes away, seventeen-year-old Rosie is forced to live with her abusive stepmom Lucy and her deadbeat boyfriend, Judd, who gives Rosie the sort of looks you shouldn’t give your girlfriend’s step-daughter. Desperate for a way out, Rosie would do just about anything to escape the life she’s been handed. Then she finds a letter her dad wrote years ago, a letter confessing that Rosie's birth mother isn't dead, as she believed, but alive somewhere—having left them when Rosie was a little girl for reasons he won't reveal.
Rosie resolves to find her birth mom, and she'll put everything on the line to make that happen. She hires a PI paid for by her best friend, Mary, who turns tricks for money. Unlike Rosie, Mary's no delicate flower and when she sees the opportunity to make some cash and help out her closest friend, she takes it. Romance blooms when the PI Rosie hires hands the case off to his handsome nephew Mac, but Rosie struggles to keep her illicit activities with Mary a secret. Things begin to unravel when Rosie starts getting creepy anonymous texts from johns looking for Mary. And then there's Mary, the one person Rosie can count on, who's been acting strangely all of a sudden. As Rosie and Mary get closer to finally uncovering the truth about Rosie's mom, Rosie comes face to face with a secret she never saw coming. A visceral, poignant tale of friendship, sacrifice and identity,
Rosie Girl is an unforgettable debut that will leave you guessing till the very last page.
On sale: July 11, 2017
Age: 14 and up
Grade: Grade 9 & Up
Page count: 384 Pages
ISBN: 9780399548666
Julie Shepard has an English degree from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) and a teaching degree in Middle Grades English. She lives by the beautiful beaches of South Florida.
Rosie Girl is her debut.
Praise for Rosie Girl:“
Rich development in a nuanced, first-person consideration of family, friendship, and the breaking points for both . . .
this may hit the mark for some Shyamalan-enthusiast readers.”—
Kirkus Reviews“Filled with
unforgettable characters and expertly paced, the novel takes readers down many paths to an
unexpected and shocking ending that packs a punch. . . . This is
a book teens will want to reread.”—
School Library Journal “
Fresh, riveting, and disturbing, Julie Shepard’s
Rosie Girl pulls no punches as Rosie and her best friend, Mary, desperately push limits and break boundaries in search of a truth so shattering, it changes her life forever. Rosie is a heroine to invest in, root for, and cry with in her shocking but all-too-real quest for answers. The ending left me sitting in the quiet . . . just sitting and thinking
How perfect. Wow.”
—Laura Wiess, author of
Such a Pretty Girl “If you are a fan of plots with tons of twists and turns, this book is for you.”—
Girls’ Life “
Rosie Girl is a
haunting, thought-provoking story that explores the ways we compromise and compartmentalize in order to survive. Readers will be up late turning the pages until they reach the twisty-turny punch-in-the-gut reveal.”
—Robin Reul, author of
My Kind of Crazy“
[T]eens will relish this complicated, taboo tale of a girl with many secrets.”—
VOYA