Parents' Guide to The Only Girl in Town

Told in the voice of July Fielding, THE ONLY GIRL IN TOWN moves back and forth in time between "Now," "Once," and "That Night." The story begins in Now, when July finds herself alone in her small town. Friends don't answer texts, there are no cars on the road or people walking dogs, and her family has disappeared. What July does find is the words "GET THEM BACK" written in her journal. Her beloved cat Yolo reappears and becomes her constant companion as she tries to interpret clues (a sticker, an empty berry basket, a baseball, a cross) that she finds around town. In the Once chapters, July remembers falling in love with Sam, who works at an ice cream shop and goes to a local college; conflicts with her best friend and cross-country team co-captain, Sydney; and how Ella, a talented ninth grader on the team, defies a tradition that until you jump off the cliff at Fall Creek, you're not really part of the team. In the Now, July begins to believe there's someone else in town -- she hears a door slamming and an elevator dinging, and finds her running shoes spinning in a dryer at Sam's dorm. As the story moves to That Night and the bonfire at a lakeside park, July finally begins to unlock the mystery.