Alright, this book is so intelligently written I had to take some time to sit and think about how I even want to review it.
Missing Clarissa is a very layered book. On the surface, it’s a story about a girl who went missing two years ago, and two teenage girls who want an A for their journalism class. They decided to make a podcast to tell the story of Clarissa, a beautiful white cheerleader who went missing after graduating in 1999 without a trace. They meet with her mother, her boyfriend and best friend and learn that Clarissa was more than just a glossy spread in a magazine, she was a fully formed human with flaws like the rest of us.
The deeper layers reach so much more. The systematic racism of the justice system, prison abolition, the missing white woman syndrome and the fact that thousands of BIPOC women are missing or murdered with no media coverage.
I applaud Ripley Jones for writing a Young Adult book that hits these hard topics that a lot of adults are afraid to talk about. I have hope for our future if this is the kind of literature our youth are reading, giving them critical thinking skills and allowing them to see beyond the surface level.
If you enjoyed books such as the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series then you would like this one.
My copy came from my local library but if you would like to purchase a copy for yourself, please click here (and thank you for supporting me!)
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