PRO CONNECT
Wendy Setzer
Ona Gritz’s new memoir, Everywhere I Look, won the Readers’ Choice Gold Award for Best Adult Book, the Pencraft Best Book Award in Memoir, the Independent Author Award in New Nonfiction, the Independent Author Award in True Crime, and is an Independent Book Review 2024 Must-Read.
Her poems and essays have appeared widely, including in The New York Times, The Guardian, Ploughshares, Brevity, Bellevue Literary Review, One Art, and River Teeth. Among her recent honors are two Notable mentions in The Best American Essays, a Best Life Story in Salon, and a winning entry in the Poetry Archive Now: Wordview 2020 Project.
She is the author of two 2024 young adult verse novels, The Space You Left Behind, which was featured in The Children's Book Council’s Hot Off the Press roundup of anticipated best sellers, and Take a Sad Song, forthcoming from West 44 Books, which earned a Kirkus starred review.
“A remarkably cohesive, genre-defying memoir that is at once a beautiful love letter and a haunting true-crime investigation.”
– Kirkus Reviews
Gritz blends memoir with true-crime detective work in this nonfiction book.
Dedicating the book to her sister, Andrea “Angie” Boggs (“the first person I remember loving”), the author explores a mystery-filled tragedy that has plagued her family for more than 40 years. The story begins with Angie’s final hours in 1982 prior to her gruesome murder and those of her husband, Raymond, her infant son, and her unborn baby. During a cold January, Angie and Raymond had invited a struggling unhoused couple into their San Francisco home, having experienced a life of hardship themselves. More than a month later, the remains of the family were discovered in a crawl space under their home. The vagrants who had stayed with them were subsequently arrested and convicted for their murders. Despite their convictions, Gritz, a college student at the time of Angie’s death, knew that key details were missing from the story of her sister’s life and death (“Did anyone ever learn their motive?”). Her secretive parents weren’t much help in providing answers, often casting Angie’s alleged behavioral problems as the driving narrative of her life. Following the death of her parents in 2002, the author delved into family records and microfilm research (she cites sources from her 10-year investigation at the end of the book) and discovered a history of abuse that her adopted sister had endured. The memoir’s revelations of family secrets make for an enthralling read, but the book’s true strength lies in the author’s heartfelt reflections on grief, survivor’s guilt, and trauma. Written in the form of a letter to Angie, this is a raw look at the beauty of sisterly love and the legacy of childhood neglect. Gritz’s often lyrical prose provides poignant reflections, which is no surprise given the author’s background as an award-winning poet and essayist. While previous iterations of some of the book’s material have been published in the New York Times, Salon, and elsewhere, this is a remarkably cohesive, genre-defying memoir that is at once a beautiful love letter and a haunting true-crime investigation.
A poignant, gripping story of love, memory, and physical and psychological brutality.
Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781627205085
Page count: 250pp
Publisher: Apprentice House
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2024
A grieving teen finds sanctuary in a home for “wayward” girls.
Set in 1970, this accessible work confronts the consequences of the Wayward Minor Act through poems that even reluctant readers will find riveting. Grieving the death of her father, Jane Flynn is out partying with friends on her fifteenth birthday when police officers show up, explaining that her mother has reported her missing. Bewildered Jane arrives at Spofford, “a maximum-security prison for children” in the Bronx, where she’s bullied and beaten by another girl. Her mom appears before the judge, trying to bring Jane home, but her original worries about keeping her daughter safe are used to justify continued incarceration. Jane is transported to the New York State Training School for Girls, where she meets the Racket, a group of girls who form a secret chosen family within the devastating system. Beatles fan Jane adopts the moniker Jude and develops feelings for the equally broken Jo-Jo. She also meets Miss Coleman, the first adult since her father’s death who listens to her. As Jane grows more comfortable with Miss Coleman, she risks exposing the Racket: With the Stonewall uprising a recent memory, can this adult be trusted? Gritz presents an excoriating critique of the systemic squashing of girls’ voices and the silencing of their desires and curiosity. Jane is cued white, and there’s diversity in race and sexuality in the supporting cast.
A thoughtful must-read that explores grueling attempts to destroy girls’ spirits.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781978597419
Page count: 200pp
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
Favorite book
To Kill a Mockingbird
Hometown
Far Rockaway, New York
EVERYWHERE I LOOK: Readers’ Choice Gold Award for Best Adult Book, 2024
EVERYWHERE I LOOK: Pencraft Best Book Award in Nonfiction - Memoir, 2024
August Or Forever: Readers' Choice Award Finalist in Middle Grade Fiction, 2023
August Or Forever: Wishing Shelf Award Finalist in Middle Grade Fiction, 2022
Lansdowne author publishes true crime memoir about her sister’s tragic life and gruesome death, 2024
My Poetry Background Helped Save My Memoir—But Not Before It Nearly Did It In, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.