What Doesn't Kill You

  Nothing ever happens in this one-horse Texas town, sixteen-year old Cory Purvis tells her platonic boyfriend, Ty-Ty . . . until the two of them find a body in the haunted old Whalen house a few miles outside of Bent Bell. Half-naked, tied up and very dead, the victim is Vickee Allen, a missing classmate of Cory's. Ty-Ty knew the dead girl all too well, and that plus his half Native-American ancestry makes him the top suspect until Cory starts nosing around. Sharp, observant, and unafraid of much, Cory is determined to clear Ty-Ty and find justice for Vickee. She forges ahead despite tough opposition from those with secrets to hide, including a deeply flawed sheriff with something to prove. Even when someone poisons her beloved horse, Miss Dumpsie, Cory won't give up. Through its scrappy, youthful heroine, this brooding, atmospheric coming-of-age mystery reminds us that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.