The Glass Girl
by Kathleen Glasgow
High School    Delacorte    464 pp.
10/24    9780525708087    $21.99
Library ed.  9780525708094    $24.99
e-book ed.  9780525708100    $10.99

Bella deals with what feels like a million pressures: family, schoolwork, a breakup with a boyfriend who said she was “too much,” and grief over the recent loss of her grandmother. Without a robust support system, Bella turns to alcohol to relieve the pressures and numb the pain; she had her first drink at eleven, and now, at fifteen, it’s an addiction. She remains in denial about that addiction until it blows up in her face, landing her in a rehab program, where she must learn to confront and process her problems in a healthier way. Glasgow paints an empathetic portrait of a young woman struggling to cope with life, giving her ample depth and complexity. The first-person narrative offers a clear depiction of the character’s subjective experiences of anxiety, depression, loss, and trauma as well as a nuanced exploration of the various factors that contribute to substance use disorders. Similarly, it recognizes the nonlinear nature of recovery and the contributors to relapse. Even as it acknowledges personal accountability and agency, it does not let the adults and peers who fail Bella off the hook. The story unflinchingly examines the darkness in life but ultimately brims with hope for intrapersonal change. An author’s note connects the story to Glasgow’s life; resources are also appended.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.