What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski

 

Over winter break, I finished reading What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski. This mystery that features passed notes, emails, text messages, interview transcripts, and other documents is about Anna Hunt, a recently turned 13-year-old eighth grade girl who is new at East Middle School. When she is assigned an un-essay for her Social Issues class, she decides to make an investigative podcast about how her fellow classmate, Rachel Riley, went from being the most popular girl to the most hated. It is not easy convincing the other eighth grade students to share what they know, though, and she realizes that the story is more complex than she could have imagined. After she becomes the target of Trevor Frey for the boys' game of harassing girls, she must rely on her sister, her mom, and the school staff to help her make East Middle a better place for all.

With its innovative format of telling Anna's story, I was intrigued by this mystery from the beginning and it reminded me a lot of Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee as I got deeper into the story. I thought it was relatable that Anna was struggling to find her place at a new school and I really liked that she cared about why Rachel was a social outcast even if her interest could be considered nosy because she wasn't there the previous school year. I admired Anna's persistence as she discovered a variety of clues and some of her classmates eventually opened up to her to be interviewed. I was surprised at how complex the mystery really was, especially upon learning who all was actually involved in the accidental fire at the Kincaid Farms Event Barn during the spring. I also felt really bad for Anna when she became a part of the boys' game. I was anxious about Anna being targeted from the moment I learned about the game, but it still broke my heart when the harassment happened to her. Rachel herself was also one of my favorite characters by the end of the book. I really liked learning more about her and why she did what she did, risking her own social status. I thought she was very brave and was really rooting for her to be accepted into the Moorland Academy of the Arts to attend their music school as a violinist. Additionally, I enjoyed the ending. I especially thought the final lines were profound. As a social commentary on the cycle of harassment in schools, What Happened to Rachel Riley? is an exemplary choice for any middle school student, not just those who like mysteries.