Essential Maps for the Lost 

It sounds like a dream: graduating high school early, completing a short real estate program, then being handed half her mother’s business. That isn’t the case for Mads. She feels like she’s drowning because she wants no part of this plan, but can’t find the will to say no. Then she finds a body in the lake. There’s no question that Mads and Billy – son of the woman who died, and lost in his own maze of grief – have a connection, but is it strong enough to withstand the web of secrets and lies the two have woven around their relationship?

Deb Caletti’s newest novel is another fantastic story: fast-paced, intricate, and impossible to put down.

Essential Maps for the Lost shifts between Mads and Billy’s point of view, giving readers a glimpse of how each relates to the other. Readers will get a sense of why both tell the lies they do – lies that are guaranteed to hurt in the end – and while it doesn’t make the build-up and subsequent crashing down any easier, it makes it understandable. Somehow, this story still comes out sweet at the end, though.