It wasn’t hard to imagine a planet like ours, with people like us, though with different governments perhaps (“Maybe,” said Jaime giddily, “the world is ruled by only one!” and we told him to shut the eff up), and perhaps at varying stages of civilization. Even the commentator on NPR said, in her living room concert voice, “It appears that, once again, we Americans have asserted our individuality in the universe.” Then, you couldn’t turn on the TV or radio without hearing some expert on Inter-Galactic Communications saying, “Well, there’s no way to know for sure, is there?” or a NASA scientist discussing the number of years ( a numberless number) it would take for the trash to reach another inhabited planet, assuming there was such a thing and assuming it could even make it past our own galaxy’s various gravitational pulls (he likened it to a salmon swimming upstream to spawn, which made us laugh). Recommended for all readers of dark contemporary fiction.Nobody ever thought much about aliens until there was talk about launching our trash into space. The climax of the story is unexpected and shocking and really pushed the boundaries of a typical YA read, which I thought was daring and just plain awesome. While the book was quite depressing and not always exciting, the story was just fascinating and sucked me in.

A lot of the other characters were stand-outs as well, such as Boone, the biggest trouble maker at the school who takes NOTHING from anyone, and dishes out twice as much. She was sharp and smart, despite her frequent poor choices. While this book was extremely dark and intense, I was totally captivated by it and particularly enjoyed Lida’s character. I feel that older readers could really enjoy the story as well. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the cute YA books too, but this book took it to a whole new level. I love YA authors who understand and know that YA readers don’t need simple all the time, and can handle mature topics and mature writing. It seemed like “smart” YA to me – more mature and advanced in its writing and style than a typical YA.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. 16 year old Lida is sent there for problems we don’t discover until much later on in the book, but it is evident from the get go that something dark gnaws away at her. While there, she makes friends with two very different girls whose problems and conflicts collide in near tragedy after hidden secrets and pasts come to a head. Summary: Alice Marshall is a boarding school smack dab in the middle of a huge wilderness area, where troubled girls are sent to straighten themselves out while living in the wild.

Genre/Audience: Young adult, contemporary

The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin