A long stretch of bad days

Title:

Author:

Summary:

A lifetime of hard work has put Lydia Chass on track to attend a prestigious journalism program and leave Henley behind—until a school error leaves her a credit short of graduating. Bristal Jamison has a bad reputation and a foul mouth, but she also needs one more credit to graduate. An unexpected partnership forms as the two remake Lydia’s town history podcast to investigate the Long Stretch of Bad Days—a week when Henley was hit by a tornado, a flash flood, as well as its first, only, and unsolved murder. As their investigation unearths buried secrets, some don’t want them to see the light. When the threats escalate, the girls have to uncover the truth before the dark history of Henley catches up with them. -- Amazon.

General Note:

"In a small town, nothing stays buried." -- Cover.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

362 pages ; 22 cm

Genre:

Thrillers (Fiction)

Detective and mystery fiction.

Subject Term:

Teenage girls -- Fiction.

High school students -- Fiction.

Podcasts -- Fiction.

Small cities -- Fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Missing persons -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Katherine Tegan Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9780063230361

Publication Information:

New York, NY : Katherine Tegan Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2023]

Call Number:

YA MCGINNIS

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003674184	New Young Adult	MCGINNIS	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
33607003688325	New Young Adult	MCGINNIS	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

From award-winning author Mindy McGinnis comes a thrilling and gripping YA mystery about a small town's past and the secrets unearthed by way of two teen girls--and a podcast. Perfect for fans of Sadie, The Cheerleaders, and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

A lifetime of hard work has put Lydia Chass on track to attend a prestigious journalism program and leave Henley behind--until a school error leaves her a credit short of graduating.

Bristal Jamison has a bad reputation and a foul mouth, but she also needs one more credit to graduate. An unexpected partnership forms as the two remake Lydia's town history podcast to investigate the Long Stretch of Bad Days--a week when Henley was hit by a tornado, a flash flood, as well as its first, only, and unsolved murder.

As their investigation unearths buried secrets, some don't want them to see the light. When the threats escalate, the girls have to uncover the truth before the dark history of Henley catches up with them.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up--Lydia Chass is a serious overachiever: volunteering, extracurriculars, extra coursework, even her own podcast, On the Ground in Flyover Country. Bristal Jamison is nothing like Lydia, but she's determined to be the first high school graduate in her family. When a counselor's mistake leaving both seniors a half-credit short of graduation turns into a team effort to revamp Lydia's podcast to focus on local history, the girls begin researching a series of 1994 events known in Henley as the "long stretch of bad days," when a tornado, a flood, and the town's only murder occurred within a three-day period. Lydia's defense attorney father has taught her plenty about the sliding spectrum of morality, but it becomes harder to stand up for what she knows is right when it becomes clear that someone is willing to resort to violence again to keep certain truths about the long stretch hidden, leaving Bristal and Lydia to decide how much the truth is really worth. McGinnis's ability to take readers on an emotional rollercoaster is on full display here; Lydia and Bristal's magnetic (entirely platonic) chemistry shifts smoothly but instantly from laugh-out-loud funny to powerfully somber. Brash yet buoyant Bristal and self-aggrandizing but steel-willed Lydia are wonderfully realistic and entertaining characters, and the mysteries, twists, and secrets they uncover are expertly crafted. VERDICT Another incredibly wild ride from McGinnis; a first purchase for all teen collections.--Allie Stevens

Publisher's Weekly Review

This animated and good-humored tale by McGinnis (The Last Laugh) features an intrepid teenage odd couple working together to gain entry into a prestigious journalism program by solving a mystery. Due to a mistake made by her high school guidance counselor, 18-year-old valedictorian Lydia Chass has just learned that she doesn't have enough history credits to graduate. Her school principal suggests that if Lydia--who hosts a podcast called On the Ground in Flyover Country--records some episodes on the history of her Henley, Ohio, town, he'll grant her the necessary credits. Hoping to give the podcast some much-needed grit, Lydia recruits acerbic classmate Bristal Jamison, who's in a similar bind. They decide to focus on the 1994 unsolved murder of 65-year-old local trailer resident Randall Boggs, which leads them to a cold case involving a missing teenage girl. Together, the girls uncover decades-old secrets and reveal chilling truths about their small town and its close-knit community. Lydia and Bristal's wry banter, their polar opposite characterizations, and their evolving, convoluted friendship lend a refreshing and dark joviality to this cleverly realized feminist thriller. All main characters are white. Ages 14--up. Agent: Adriann Ranta Zurhellen, Folio Literary. (Mar.)