The Best Liars in Riverview

January 1, 2022
Shortly after the end of sixth grade, Aubrey's best friend, Joel, goes missing, and Aubrey knows more than they're saying. It started with the Running-Away Game, but Aubrey never suspected Joel would actually run away. Neither Aubrey nor Joel fit in in their small, mostly Catholic Kentucky town. They would rather talk about different kinds of bugs and play pretend in the woods than follow the social rules of middle school. Middle school has also turned the class clown into the class bully, one who targets Joel for being gay--even though Joel's not even sure that he is. Aubrey is also struggling with their identity; being a girl feels like a lie, but what else is there? Aubrey, with their friend Mari's support, sets out into the woods to find Joel, and while the unfolding plot is interesting, the real enjoyment is in the characters and themes. Despite telling the story through Aubrey's eyes, Thompson shows each character's struggles to be unique and important. Aubrey notices the differences between their experience as a White, female-assigned person who doesn't conform to gender roles and Joel's experience as a Black boy in a predominantly White town who doesn't live up to the demands of masculinity. They even see that toxic masculinity (though Aubrey does not have the terminology to name it) affects the bullies, too. A gentle and genuine coming-out story. (Fiction. 8-12)

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January 17, 2022
After a miserable sixth-grade year, white Kentuckian Aubrey feels most comfortable in the woods, playing the Running-Away Game with their best friend Joel, who’s biracial (Black/white) and “the same kind of weird” as Aubrey—interested in make-believe and the natural world. When Joel disappears one night, having experienced regular bullying at school, Aubrey has an idea about what happened to him but doesn’t tell anyone, even the police and Joel’s distraught parents, whom Aubrey says don’t “deserve to know the parts of the story I’m leaving out.” Secretly, Aubrey—accompanied by two trusted companions, schoolmate Mari and older sister Teagan—sets out on a trek into the woods to find Joel. In a sensitively written first novel, Thompson addresses issues of gender identity, privilege, and prejudice through a candid first-person narrative, filled with flashbacks and ruminations, that offers a window into Aubrey’s and Joel’s evolving relationship and internal conflicts. Set in a conservative, predominantly white Catholic town in which the community doesn’t always warmly receive those it considers outliers, this heartfelt story shows rather than tells how friendship can lead to understanding. Ages 8–12. Agent: Beth Phelan, Gallt & Zacker.

April 8, 2022

Gr 5-8-It's the summer before seventh grade and Aubrey's best friend Joel is missing. No one in the small town of Riverview, KY, can figure out why. Aubrey has a pretty good idea, but she's not telling the full truth of what she thinks happened. "Grown-ups are supposed to fix things. They're not supposed to pretend everything's okay...Maybe I'm not the only one who's been telling lies." Joel, who is biracial (one parent is Black, one is white), and Aubrey, who is white, both struggle with self-identity, but when they're together they can be their true selves-be it a fairy, an elf, gay, trans, or a runaway. Running away has been on the top of the agenda lately, given events with the bully at school and the lack of approval Joel finds at home. Aubrey sets out on an adventure to find Joel and along the way she ends up finding herself. Told in first person, Thompson's tale will have readers guessing up until the very end. From beautiful outdoor descriptions of forested Kentucky and Mammoth State Park, readers will get a sense of the trails, camping, nature, animals, insects, and importance of respecting the land, even as the main character is in pursuit of her best friend, knowing her parents are worried sick about her. Each chapter is titled, giving a small hint of what's to come. VERDICT A gratifying middle grade read for students who enjoy tales of adventure and belonging.-Tracy Cronce

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Starred review from February 1, 2022
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* A lie of omission is still a lie, and that includes secrets. Aubrey knows this. They know that there's so much more they could say about the night their best friend, Joel, disappeared, that the things left unsaid are part of the reason he is gone. But what if talking about that night reveals all the secrets both Joel and Aubrey have been keeping? And what do you do when the secrets get bigger? What do you do when you are the secret? These are the questions that Aubrey, a white child in a predominantly white Catholic town in rural Kentucky, grapples with as they deal with biracial (half Black, half white) Joel's disappearance. Thompson's debut is a heartfelt coming-of-age journey that explores identity, friendship, and learning to accept who you are, even if you don't quite understand it yet. Aubrey's outer journey to find Joel--with help from their friend Mari (a fellow outsider with two moms) and Aubrey's perfect older sister, Teagan--is handled as beautifully as their inner journey to find themselves. While readers can easily guess at the secrets eating away at Aubrey and Joel, the anxiety and weight of all the lies feel real, and the revelations unspool in a way that remains suspenseful. Strongly recommended for any reader who enjoys a story powered by the bonds of friendship.

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