22. THE GIRLS OF MARCH – Young Adult Contemporary

Mentor Name: Emily Martin

Mentee Name: RuthAnne Snow

Title: THE GIRLS OF MARCH

Category: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary

Word Count: 71,000
Pitch:

Elin swears she wasn’t trying to kill herself. Her best friends have vowed to keep it secret, and Elin is convinced a perfect prom is her ticket to erasing the worst mistake of her life. But when prom night crashes and burns (not Carrie bad, but bad) and Elin disappears, her friends discover Elin isn’t the only one with secrets.

Excerpt:

Jenna Sinclair’s bedroom
10:00 AM

I love Elin Angstrom to death, but it pisses me off that she tried to kill herself.

I stared at the diary on my desk. It was my handwriting, my journal, but the last entry seemed … well, distasteful at least. To view my friend’s attempted suicide from the perspective of how it impacted me.

I should have been recording my run time and hitting the shower, but the words were a magnet, holding my gaze and refusing to let go. An indictment of my friendship, a written record of selfishness. I snatched a pen out of my desk drawer and drew straight lines through them until they were illegible.

My cell phone buzzed on my desk and I jumped. ELIN CALLING. I hesitated for one second before picking up. “Heeey, what’s up?”

“Don’t get mad,” Elin said.

Not a great way to start a conversation, E. “Since when do I get mad?”

“You’re always mad.”

“I am not.” I scribbled over the next lines, Most girls go their separate ways in junior high, join new friend groups, all the stuff Judy Blume is made of. But not me and Elin. We’ve never even had a real fight. I winced as my pen tore through the thick, creamy paper.

“Whatevs. Promise?”

“I promise,” I muttered as I smoothed the ripped paper back into place.

“I kind of … need your help covering with my parents.”