Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Murder most fowl? In this sardonic and campy YA thriller, an anxious, introverted nonbinary teen birder somehow finds themself investigating a murder with their neighbor/fellow anime lover, all while falling for a cute girl from their birding group...and trying not to get killed next.
Sixteen-year-old Bianca Torre is an avid birder undergoing a gender identity crisis and grappling with an ever-growing list of fears. Some, like Fear #6: Initiating Conversation, keep them constrained, forcing them to watch birds from the telescope in their bedroom. And, occasionally, their neighbors. When their gaze wanders to one particular window across the street, Bianca witnesses a creepy plague-masked murderer take their neighbor’s life. Worse, the death is ruled a suicide, forcing Bianca to make a choice—succumb to their long list of fears (including #3 Murder and #55 Breaking into a Dead Guy’s Apartment), or investigate what happened.
Bianca enlists the help of their friend Anderson Coleman, but the two have more knowledge of anime than true crime. As Bianca and Anderson dig deeper into the murder with a little help from Bianca’s crush and fellow birding aficionado, Elaine Yee (#13 Beautiful People, #11 Parents Discovering They’re a Raging Lesbian), the trio uncover a conspiracy much larger—and weirder—than imagined. And when the killer catches wind of the investigation, suddenly Bianca’s #1 fear of public speaking doesn’t sound so bad compared to the threat of being silenced for good.
In this absurdist, darkly comical YA thriller that is a deceptively deep exploration of anxiety and identity, perhaps the real murder investigation is the friends we make along the way.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixteen-year-old white lesbian Bianca Torre thought they had enough on their plate dealing with their "full CVS-receipt-long list of fears," a burgeoning gender identity crisis, and a massive crush on a girl they're too scared to talk to ("Fear #13: Beautiful Women"). But when the death of their conspiracy-obsessed neighbor is ruled a suicide, Bianca feels compelled to add "solve a murder mystery" to their accounting of troubles. Especially because their bird-watching—and people-watching—habit resulted in them being the sole witness to their neighbor's murder by a knife-wielding stranger wearing a beaked plague doctor mask. With the help of their Black best friend Anderson Coleman and their Chinese American crush Elaine Yee, Bianca embarks on an investigation to find the culprit despite "Fear #3: Murder." But as the trio delve further into their inquiry, Bianca must drum up the courage to push past "Fear #26: Dangerous situations in general"—or risk jeopardizing their loved ones. Via Bianca's savvy teenage voice, punctuated by humor both whip-smart and absurdly campy, Winans portrays Bianca's gender exploration and timid steps toward bravery with as much heft as the narrative's deliberately plotted overarching mystery in this exuberant read. Ages 14–up.