Paradise Coast

In the Everglades town of Cape Hope, Florida, the tensions between the Chasers—townies with small businesses and jobs that depend on the tourist season—and the Collective—the wealthy hotel owners and elite who want to either buy up or downright steal the Chasers’ businesses—are simmering to a boil. Noa’s family’s Surf Shack is one of the few Chaser-owned places left standing, but after Noa’s brother took off and left just Noa and her dad to run the place, their finances are increasingly strained. There could be a way out of it, however, if Noa can finally pin down the Collective’s role in a decades-old mystery involving a dead socialite, a missing Chaser, and a vanishing island. To do this, she must find the mysterious Rum Runner Island, and she’ll need a sturdy, functioning boat, so she’s going to have to enlist her ex-boyfriend Jamie, a Collective kid who broke her heart last summer but seems eager to help now. Things take a turn when a dead body washes up on the shore and later two guys with guns show up, making it clear Noa and Jamie are onto something that might take the Collective down for good. Skillful writing evokes the treacherous allure of the Everglades, making it perfectly plausible that an island could simply disappear in this wild place where predatory gators lie in wait and the air is so oppressive it would surely muffle any cries for help. Less plausible are the incongruent plot beats that rely too heavily on leaps of logic and a deus ex machina in the form of a strangely knowledgeable but unknown relative. Fortunately, the dual narration between Jamie and Noa keeps the pace lively and lays out the emotional stakes well enough to keep readers engaged. Direct fans of Lockhart’s We Were Liars series (BCCB 6⁄14, et al.) here for another look at beautiful places with dangerous secrets. KQG – BCCB * January 2026 *“Atmospheric and suspenseful; readers will be engrossed until the last page.” – Kirkus * December 15, 2025 *“A community’s decades-old feud comes to a head in this savvy thriller from Young (In Nightfall) … Pulse-pounding mystery and romance.” – Publishers Weekly * 11/17/2025 *Deep in the Florida Everglades, a mystery holds sway over the community of Cape Hope. Years ago, a hotel burned, a woman was murdered, and the cover-up caused the town to divide. The ­Collective, the rich people who own and control ­everything, and the Chasers, the less ­well-off ­townies, still are at violent odds with each other. The story bounces back and forth between the viewpoints of two protagonists: Noa, a young teen girl who helps her dad run the Surf Shack; and Jamie, a social ­pariah who holds on to just enough influence to run with the rich kids. Together, along with others, Noa and Jamie will investigate what really happened at the Starline Hotel (­seeking to clear the reputation of the suspected murderer) and how their families and others are connected to the darker history of the town. Fans of mysteries around beach communities like television series Outer Banks will flock to Young’s (The Program) summer mystery. A mix of romance, adventure, and class struggle, this story brings something for all readers—­especially mystery fans, who will enjoy trying to follow the clues that the characters discover. The racial/ethnic identity of the characters are not mentioned. VERDICT Perfect as either a beach read or stormy night mystery, this is a hit that will roll right off shelves. – School Library Journal * 12/1/25 *A community’s decades-old feud comes to a head in this savvy thriller from Young (In Nightfall). Teen Noa finds comfort in running the Surf Shack on Cape Hope with her father. Following her mother’s death and her brother’s disappearance, the family business feels like the only thing she has left. But the Collective, influential Cape Hope residents, seems intent on slowly forcing the establishment out of business. Meanwhile, Noa’s ex-boyfriend and Collective member Jamie has always been uneasy with his community’s elitist ways. The clash between working-class locals and the Collective is generations-old, beginning when a disgruntled shift worker purportedly set fire to the hotel where he worked, killing a rich heiress in the process. When Noa discovers inconsistencies about the hotel blaze, she and Jamie endeavor to uncover the truth, which might be more tied up in Jamie’s family history than he anticipated. Conversations regarding gentrification and class differences are surface-level and well-trodden, but sensorial depictions of the marshy Florida setting steal the show as the white-cued protagonists navigate pulse-pounding mystery and romance. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sarah Gerton, New Leaf Literary. (Feb.) – Publishers Weekly * 11/17/2025 *An attempt to solve a 40-year-old Florida mystery turns into a high-stakes thriller when a recent murder comes to light. Decades ago, a young socialite ended up dead, a local teen went on the run, and animosities flared between Cape Hope’s locals—labeled Chasers—and the rich and powerful resort community called the Collective. For years, the Everglades have hidden the secrets of the crumbling Starline Hotel on Rum Runner Island, but a powerful storm churns up the past. In alternating first-person chapters, Noa Acosta and Jamie Matthews—along with their friends, Tech Mendez and Shawn Callen—search for evidence to unravel the mystery that’s shaped the town, stop the hostility that’s brewing between its communities, clear a family’s name, and offer a chance at redemption. Young creates an ominous tone, immersing readers in a visceral and vivid setting—a lush landscape, where a dead body is clasped in a “marsh’s wet embrace” and a “thick, sludgy kind of quiet” permeates the air. The stakes are high—with threats both from the unforgiving nature of the landscape and from those who want to keep the truth buried. Elements of the past and current murders are expertly woven together with carefully laid backstory. Jamie and Shawn read white, and Noa and Tech are cued Latine. Atmospheric and suspenseful; readers will be engrossed until the last page. – Kirkus * December 15, 2025 *

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Suzanne is also the author of Girls with Sharp Sticks, All in Pieces, Hotel for the Lost, and several other novels for teens.