American Girl

This American Girl has nothing to do with dolls, and her life is anything but toy-store quaint. Pennsylvania high-school-senior Charlie is autistic, a reality she’s learned to mask by carefully studying TV characters and everyone in her life. She’s developed rules, ways for “a child like that” to understand the world, but some things remain unfathomable. People get harder or easier to look at, for example, depending on their behavior. Grandma threw Charlie and her mother out, because “whores get what whores deserve.” And making a friend is hard when adults fear that Charlie’s mom might not “[run] a home with the right values.” But she finally finds a haven in the Triple S, a sandwich store where she fits right in with the downtrodden coworkers, who are all struggling to stay afloat while avoiding the handsy, loathsome boss. When he’s found dead, and security camera footage shows Charlie witnessing something off camera that horrifies her, she’s placed firmly in the spotlight. This is an uncomfortable position and readers will root hard for her to leave, not least because MIT is waiting for this gutsy girl. Teens as well as adults will enjoy this smart kid’s inner life and Walker’s wry observations about small-town life.