Wild and Crooked

Kalyn Spence is the daughter of a convicted murderer, but she hides her identity when she starts her new school and makes a friend in Gus Peake, who has cerebral palsy and whose father was murdered. As the two explore their relationship, the story takes readers on a murder mystery adventure while Gus and Kalyn fight to stay connected despite their unlikely bond and work together to find out what really happened the night Gus’s father was killed. Suitable for mature senior secondary students, this novel lends itself to a novel study or for independent reading. The book’s contemporary themes include LGBTQ+ identity, what it means to be part of a community, and our assumptions about others, and these may inspire class discussions and inquiry-based learning in the classroom.