Deep Waters

John Herman sets a summer camp mystery and then quietly dismantles the summer camp idyll from the inside. Thirteen-year-old Andy's admiration for star counsellor Johnny March is the engine, but what drives the book is the way Andy's small manipulations spiral past his control toward an ambiguous drowning that may or may not be murder. Kirkus Reviews praised the first-person narration for its authentic adolescent tension, and that praise is earned — Herman understands the gap between what a kid sees and what is actually happening among adults. The unresolved ending will frustrate readers who want clean answers, and that is partly the point. This is best for mature middle-grade readers and young teens who can sit with moral complexity. Not for young or sensitive readers.