Take It from the Top

Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever...until a production of Wicked brings all their buried issues to the surface. Claire Swinarski, Edgar Award nominee of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, the pain of her mom's death can't reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan--the only person in the world who understands her. To top it off, Wicked--the girls' favorite musical--has been chosen for the camp's end-of-year production. If anyone can be Glinda to Eowyn's Elphaba, it's Jules!

But when Eowyn arrives at camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn't go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does...

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you'll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls' story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

Claire Swinarski was born and raised in Wisconsin, where she still lives with her family and writes stories for readers of all ages. What Happens Next was her debut middle grade novel and was followed by The Kate in Between and What Happened to Rachel Riley, which was an ALA Notable Children's Book, a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults title, a Cybils Award nominee, and an Edgar Award nominee. These were followed by Take It from the Top. She thinks wandering around a library can solve 95 percent of life's problems.