Girl Forgotten

When it comes to listening to stuff, I listen more to audiobooks than anything else. I like being in a story rather than listening to music. Podcasts, however, do have their place. They can be fun to listen to when you only have a few tasks and need something short, or when you are not in the mood for an 8-hour story, and only want something that is an hour long at most.

This is the basis for the book Girl Forgotten. It is a fun book about Piper who wants to solve a murder at her local high school that happened 17 years ago. She decides to document what she has discovered through a podcast. As she becomes more successful at it, she finds that more people want to listen and come forward with their ideas about what happened, but there are just as many people who say no, and some people try and steer her away from the past by any means necessary.

This book works on many different levels for me. One of the biggest is the podcast angle. As we see Piper make her podcast, she (and by extension the reader) learns many different things about how to produce an episode, and how much effort goes into it. It isn't as easy as pressing play and recording a few lines. There is interviewing people, writing and editing a script, and then rerecording parts as necessary. This shows a person that making something like this isn't as easy as it seems. It also made me want to listen to some of my favorite podcasts, which I liked.

I also enjoyed how the reader gets a brief look into things like copyright law and the legal world. I won't say how for spoilers sake, but these topics come up, and, based on my limited knowledge, it seems accurate. This helps kids see that the real world is complicated and that their actions, even seemingly innocent ones, have consequences.

There were some things that I did not enjoy, however, such as the ending, where the killer is revealed. It is done in one of the most cliche ways possible, with the killer trying to kill Piper, when they seemingly have no reason to. Obviously, Piper survives, but it is in the most contrived way possible (I won't say more for spoiler's sake).

I also dislike how the topic of Piper's mom is handled. It is revealed that her mother sold drugs, and was arrested before the story starts. Piper has told lies about this to her friends and teachers, to avoid telling them the harsh truth and facing their judgment. Then, her story comes out through a newspaper article near the end of the book, causing people to doubt and make fun of her.. I hoped this would be a strong moment of reflection for Piper, as she begins to understand why some people would not want the negative associations with the murder to be brought to light in Piper's context of her mother being in prison. But, nope, this is never brought up. Instead, it is used as a way to generate conflict between Piper and her friends at the seemingly last minute of the book.

Still, I would say this was a fun enjoyable read that can be enjoyed from many different angles, from murder-mystery to audio production. I give it a three out of five.