Sadie by Courtney Summers, winner of this year’s Forest of Reading White Pine Award is a fascinating and heart wrenching story about a girl who is on a mission to right a wrong.

I absolutely loved the format of this story, told in part in the voice of Sadie and in part as the transcript of a podcast about Sadie and her sister Mattie. Slowly Courtney Summers peels back the layers of the story, carefully revealing information about Sadie and her circumstances bit by bit. It’s a slow burn in the best of ways, keeping you riveted to it’s pages from the first to the last. Young Adult novels are so much more powerful when the authors are honest and really delve into the darker side of teenage life. Courtney Summers does just that with Sadie. She explores subjects that make you want to stop and stare, like driving slowly through a car accident site. This story peaks that curiosity and need to know in ourselves that hook us into knowing the darker side of humanity.

It’s clear this book resonated with teenagers themselves since the White Pine Award is voted on by the children reading the books. I was told to buckle up when I got this book and it was every bit as intense as it is hyped to be