Sixteen year old Aza Holmes (as in Sherlock?) and her BFF Daisy appear to be in the thick of a mystery, when they learn of the disappearance of Russell Pickett, neighborhood billionaire, and the $100,000 award for information leading to his finding. Their involvement is made much more interesting by the fact that Pickett’s son Davis is an acquaintance of Aza’s, having spent time with him at Sad Camp, a summer camp for children who have lost a parent, when they were eleven. When Aza and Davis become romantically involved, and Davis pays off Aza with the reward money, Davis can know she is interested in him, not his considerable money and lifestyle.

What this novel is all about takes a dramatic shift; the father’s disappearance becomes background, with the characters of Aza and Davis, and their struggles, taking the foreground. And these are two very conflicted and complicated characters: Aza lives alone with her mother, a math teacher at her high school, after the loss of her father. Aza struggles with intrusive obsessional thinking, focusing on bacteria, such as C. diff, and engages in compulsive behaviors as a way to manage the thoughts. Beginning with splitting the pad of her middle finger, with the bleeding, cleaning, and bandaging ritual, her disorder advances to swallowing hand sanitizer, in an irrational effort to prevent bacteria from entering her microbiome. The bacteria she is trying to deny access is from kissing with Davis. She likens her obsessional thinking to a tightening spiral, until it becomes all she can think about, and is powerless in the face of the demands of these thoughts. This then leads to her compulsive actions, which even Aza realizes are not solutions, not rational responses. Davis is very patient with Aza, especially for a 16 year old boy. Daisy, normally patient, inadvertently reveals to Aza how difficult it is to be her friend, since it is all one-sided, all about Aza, with no support or interest in Daisy and her life.

Davis’ loss of his mother had a profound effect on him, since his father has no genuine interest in Davis or his younger brother, Noah. Davis feels very isolated in his rich kid lifestyle, unsure of who genuinely like him or his money. The boys’ needs are taken care of by paid help: cook, cleaner, landscapers, etc., all people paid to care for him, none who do it out of caring for him. Noah is having a far more difficult time handling their father’s disappearance, forcing Davis into a role of parenting his brother, a task Davis feels unprepared for, and somewhat resentful having to take on. Both Aza and Davis are excellent students, as the book is sprinkled with literary, scientific, and folkloric references. Green does a great job taking us into the thoughts of these characters, depicting the self-centered searching and confusion of adolescence, as they try to deal with their anxieties, and figure out how they fit into their senses of self. Green uses Aza’s difficulties to ask important questions: are these thoughts me, or obscure who the real me is? How can I look within to figure out who I am, if all I find is loud, demanding, self-destructive thoughts? Will I struggle with this all my life?

The mystery gets solved, but this almost seems beside the point. The real mystery is how will Davis and Aza will move forward with their lives in the face of their unique challenges. They must do this with less support than young people with helicopter parents have, which is probably for the best. Their independence will be forged by themselves, building inner strength. Green provides a realistic ending, that may not please everyone, but is real and true. Since holding a mirror to truth, a teenager’s truth, is his goal, it satisfies.