That's Not My Name

by Megan Lally

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Fans of Five Total Strangers and 14 Ways To Die will find a similarly propulsive thriller in That's Not My Name. This is a page-turning YA thriller about a teen trying to remember who she is, all while the situation around her spirals. It's gripping, it's quick, it's a certified rollercoaster.

An instant bestseller!

She thought she had her life back. She was wrong. A gripping debut thriller perfect for fans of Natalie D. Richards and Vincent Ralph.

It was a mistake to trust him.

Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there—or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He's been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos.

He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.

When Lola slammed the car door and stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the sheriff, his friends, and the whole town are convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. Forget proving his innocence, he needs to find her before it's too late. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads there are to follow…and the more danger they both are in.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728270135
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	12/26/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	5,478
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Megan Lally is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of That’s Not My Name. When she’s not writing dark and twisty young adult novels, you might find her barefoot at the ocean, drinking one too many lavender lattes, or arguing about the validity of glitter as a favorite color. (It’s absolutely a color, and it’s the best one.) She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Editorial Reviews

10/23/2023

Skillfully employing dual POVs, debut author Lally combines an amnesia plot with a missing girl mystery to deliver a suspenseful thrill ride. When a teenage girl is found in a ditch, bruised and unable to remember her name or the events that led to her predicament, Oregon police bring her to the station. A distraught man named Wayne soon arrives, claiming that the girl is his daughter Mary and brandishing as proof her birth certificate, Social Security card, and cell phone photos of the two of them. In Wayne’s custody, Mary acclimates to her new normal; still, she harbors doubts about Wayne’s truthfulness, especially as her memories start returning. Meanwhile, Andrew “Drew” Carter-Diaz is putting up missing girl posters, hoping to find his girlfriend, 17-year-old Lola Scott, who disappeared from Washington City five weeks earlier. Though most people assume that Drew killed her, Drew—aided by his cousin Max, and Max’s girlfriend and local sheriff’s daughter Autumn—seeks the truth. Drew and Mary’s evocatively rendered alternating perspectives persuasively build tension and slowly dispense information amid the twisting, shock-filled plot, all the way up to a gratifying resolution. Main characters read as white; one of Drew’s fathers is Guatemalan. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, Emerald City Literary. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Secrets. Lies. Betrayal. Get ready for a roller coaster ride where nothing is what it seems. That’s Not My Name begs to be read in a single adrenaline-fueled sitting." — April Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Girl, Stolen and Two Truths and a Lie 

"Tense, heart-wrenching, and addictive, Lally’s pulse-pounding debut is an exciting first entry for an author we should all be watching." — Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark 

"With her masterful use of carefully-placed details to build suspense, Lally asks: just because something is obvious, does that make it true?" — Jessie Weaver, author of Live Your Best Lie

"A gripping, emotional page-turner with an undeniable tenderness at its center. Megan Lally’s writing is sharp and wholly immersive, with a keen eye for detail and a sly sense of humor. This book will leave you breathless." — Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of Today Tonight Tomorrow

"A thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion." — Kirkus

From the Publisher

01/01/2024

Gr 9 Up—A teen wakes up on the side of an Oregon country road; she has brown hair, green eyes, is covered in dirt and blood, and doesn't remember a thing—not even her name. A patrol cop finds her and takes her to a small local precinct where a man named Wayne shows up, calling her Mary and claiming to be her father, with legal documents and family photos as proof. The first-person perspective then shifts to Drew, who is printing out flyers of his missing girlfriend, Lola, who has brown hair and green eyes—and readers will think they know where this one is going. The perspective shifts every few chapters, as each character deals with their situation—Mary in the remote cabin trying to remember anything about her life, while Drew lives with the stigma of being the prime suspect in Lola's disappearance. Lally's debut is a page-turning read set over only a few days as Mary becomes increasingly unsettled by the cracks emerging in Wayne's story and Drew, his cousin Max, and Lola's best friend, Autumn, launch their own investigation to find Lola, with the story lines intersecting in a heart-pounding conclusion. A note: Wayne focuses on Mary wearing "appropriate" clothes (e.g., no V-necks); there is no sexual assault. Most characters read white; Drew was adopted by his fathers (one is white, one is Guatemalan American) as a toddler. VERDICT Part amnesia thriller, part teen detective story, this is full of thrills and a great selection for collections.—Amanda Mastrull

School Library Journal

2023-09-23
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.

A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.

A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews