The story about the mysterious death of Lydia Lee moves back and forth in time. The story opens by announcing that sixteen-year-old Lydia—her parents’ favorite child—is dead, though her family doesn’t know it yet. The Lees live in Middlewood, Ohio. Marilyn, Lydia’s white mother, aspires to be a doctor. Her Chinese American father, James, is an American history professor. Her studious older brother Nathan is obsessed with space and headed to Harvard. And her sister Hannah, in fifth grade, is quietly observant and often overlooked. When Marilyn finds that Lydia missing, she is sure Lydia’s been kidnapped. Nathan thinks the neighbor Jack, a carefree loner who sleeps with a lot of girls, knows something about Lydia’s disappearance.

ISBN: 9780143127550