Curtis Sittenfeld's Prepmeets Donna Tartt's The Secret History, this daringly imagined, atmospheric, and original debut is part coming-of-age story and part supernatural tale about teenage girls learning their own strength. Kate Riordan fears two things as she grows up in the small Appalachian town of Swan River: that she'll be a frustrated townie forever, or that she'll turn into one of the monstrous wild girls, fire starters who menace the community. Struggling to better her chances of escaping, Kate attends the posh Swan River Academy and finds herself divided between her hometownand its dark historyand the realm of privilege and achievement at the Academy. Explosive friendships with Mason, a boy from the wrong side of town, and Willow, a wealthy and popular queen bee from school are slowly pulling her apart. Kate must decide who she is and where she belongs before she wakes up with cinders at her fingertips.