The Reece Malcolm List

Amy Spalding

This novel follows in the great literary tradition of stories that begin with the death of a parent — and then author Amy Spalding takes the plot in pleasingly unexpected directions.

When 16-year-old Devan’s father dies, she’s exported to Los Angeles to live with her mother, a best-selling author she’s never met. Devan is a list-maker, and in her journal, she keeps a heartbreakingly meager list of the facts she knows about her mom, a.k.a., Reece Malcolm:

• She graduated from New York University.
• She lives in or near Los Angeles.
• Since her first novel was released, she’s been on The New York Times bestseller list every week.
• She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
• She’s my mother.

After a bumpy start in her new home, Devan enrolls in the performing arts school and begins to find her way: She makes friends, explores the arena of cute boys, and pursues her passion for singing.

But nothing is ever simple as we’d like it to be, and her conflicting bouts of confidence and insecurity perfectly encapsulate the agony of adolescence. She’s confused about her romantic feelings; she lashes out at the people she cares about the most; she yearns for female friends she can trust.

This light read plumbs emotional depths without clonking you over the head with its message. It has a genuine sweetness and optimism about it, and is, ultimately, about finding where and how to belong in the world.

He’s wearing a totally normal T-shirt from the mall or whatever, but it hangs on him like the shirt has fulfilled its sole mission in life. — Amy Spalding

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