April Henry is the go to storyteller for YA crime novels, and The Girl I Used To Be solidifies her position. Seventeen year old Ariel Benson was raised in foster care after her father murdered her mother and then disappeared. For several years, her grandmother keeps Ariel until the older lady has a heart attack and dies. A knock at the door one day rocks Ariel's world; her father's remains have turned up near where her mother was murdered and judging from the appearance, he was probably killed the same day as her mother. Now Ariel has two murdered parents and the killer is still on the loose.
Ariel (Olivia) travels to Medford, Oregon, to her father's funeral. She doesn't tell anyone her real name and spies on the funeral guests hoping to get a vibe on her parents' possible killer. Olivia decides to rent her grandmother's house and stick around town hoping to solve the questions of who and why?
Cute guy and ex-neighbor Duncan suspects Olivia is Ariel and proves it when he sees a scar she's had since childhood. She begs him not to tell anyone who she is, and he offers to help her find the killer. Duncan says that no one will suspect anything if he asks questions; he's lived in Medford his whole life, while Olivia is an outsider who will raise suspicions. The two will need to work fast to discover the killer before he can kill again.
There are twists and turns and a pretty good whodunit. Mystery and crime readers will want to read The Girl I Used To Be.
240 pages Ages 12 and up 978-1627793322
Recommended by: Pamela Thompson, Library Media Specialist, Texas USA
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