Female of the Species

McGinnis, Mindy

Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis—with her unique voice and brilliant prose—delivers a riveting contemporary novel about the lives of three teens connected by violence and what it means to be the female of the species. A stunning, dark page-turner.

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the star athlete gunning for valedictorian, still feeling the guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And he doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective tendencies extend to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.