The Outliers

by Kimberly McCreight

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia comes a fast-paced teen series where one girl learns that in a world of intrigue, betrayal, and deeply buried secrets, it is vital to trust your instincts.

It all starts with a text: Please, Wylie, I need your help. Wylie hasn’t heard from Cassie in over a week, not since their last fight. But that doesn’t matter. Cassie’s in trouble, so Wylie decides to do what she has done so many times before: save her best friend from herself.

This time it’s different, though. Instead of telling Wylie where she is, Cassie sends cryptic clues. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie sent him to help. Trusting the guy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn’t feel right, but Wylie has no choice but to ignore her gut instinct and go with him.

But figuring out where Cassie is goes from difficult to dangerous, fast. As Wylie and Jasper head farther and farther north into the dense woods of Maine, Wylie struggles to control her growing sense that something is really wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? And could finding her be only the beginning?

In this breakneck tale, New York Times bestselling author Kimberly McCreight brilliantly chronicles a fateful journey that begins with a single decision—and ends up changing everything.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062359117
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Series:	Outliers , #1
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	467,553
File size:	928 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kimberly McCreight is the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia, which was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Alex Awards; Where They Found Her; and The Outliers young adult trilogy. She attended Vassar College and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Wylie is worried about her former best friend Cassie. They haven't gotten along since Cassie began dating Jasper and then started drinking and partying all the time. When she goes missing, her mother comes to Wylie's home. The teen wants to help, but she hasn't left her house in months, because she's afraid to go outside. Jasper, also frightened for his girlfriend's safety, arrives on Wylie's doorstep with text message instructions to pick her up and drive 100 miles away. The protagonist must overcome her fear, and general dislike of her friend's boyfriend, in order to save Cassie. As the road trip progresses, so does the mystery of who has their friend. With a slow-paced beginning, the novel gains traction once the highway journey gets underway. Unfortunately, Wylie is a frustrating protagonist. Her agoraphobia, which at first seems debilitating, is easily overcome several chapters into the book. Her near hatred of Jasper also seems extremely misplaced, as he goes out of his way to be nice and often makes her feel better despite the dire circumstances surrounding his girlfriend's potential kidnapping. Some of her fears seem to be well-founded, as nearly every individual she encounters after leaving her house turns out to be involved in her friend's disappearance. VERDICT A great supplemental read for angsty teens but otherwise without broad appeal.—Ryan P. Donovan, Southborough Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

02/15/2016
In this creepy conspiracy thriller, first in a trilogy, a young woman embarks on a hazardous road trip to rescue her missing best friend, following a trail of increasingly desperate text messages. To find Cassie, whose wild child ways often get her in trouble, Wylie has to work with Cassie’s boyfriend, Jasper, whom she blames for her friend’s most recent fall from grace. As they journey into the dark depths of Maine, they discover the unsettling truth that all of this trouble is connected to Wylie’s father’s research into heightened emotional perception, and now multiple groups are after them. McCreight (Where They Found Her) crafts a tense, atmospheric narrative that sends the teens reeling from one surprise after another, but the plot threatens to collapse under the weight of so many twists and turns, which stretch credulity a little too much. There are some nice emotional moments, especially when Wylie tries to faces her deep-seated anxiety, but the central premise doesn’t quite hold up its side of the bargain. Ages 14–up. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

McCreight (Where They Found Her) crafts a tense, atmospheric narrative that sends the teens reeling from one surprise after another — Publishers Weekly

THE OUTLIERS is a fast-paced, emotional, and darkly compelling novel with an ending that works like a catapult. I can’t wait to find out what McCreight has hidden up her sleeves! — Julianna Baggott, bestselling author of Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonder and the Pure trilogy.

Mccreight’s book is an edge of the seat page turner. Her ability to get at the core of what it means to be a friend, a girl, a human being in this society is at once thoughtful and dead on. — Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming

An exhilarating novel that unfolds at warp speed. — Mary Kubica, bestselling author of The Good Girl and Pretty Baby

A spellbinding thriller that keeps you guessing until the very last page. — Sara Shepard, bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars

Original and wholly addictive, The Outliers is a heart-pounding mystery that will leave readers desperate for the next book. — Suzanne Young, bestselling author of The Program

This first book in a planned trilogy moves at a rapid pace and is action-packed from the start....Wylie’s struggles with grief and a difficult relationship with her best friend mold her into a multilayered character who captures the reader’s sympathy. — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

This fast-paced thriller will have readers pinned to their seats with all the twists and turns in the second half. — Booklist

“THE OUTLIERS is a fast-paced, emotional, and darkly compelling novel with an ending that works like a catapult. I can’t wait to find out what McCreight has hidden up her sleeves!” — Julianna Baggott, bestselling author of Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonder and the Pure trilogy.

“Mccreight’s book is an edge of the seat page turner. Her ability to get at the core of what it means to be a friend, a girl, a human being in this society is at once thoughtful and dead on.” — Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming.

“An exhilarating novel that unfolds at warp speed.” — —Mary Kubica, bestselling author of The Good Girl and Pretty Baby

From the Publisher

Original and wholly addictive, The Outliers is a heart-pounding mystery that will leave readers desperate for the next book.

Suzanne Young

This fast-paced thriller will have readers pinned to their seats with all the twists and turns in the second half.

Booklist

Mccreight’s book is an edge of the seat page turner. Her ability to get at the core of what it means to be a friend, a girl, a human being in this society is at once thoughtful and dead on.

Jacqueline Woodson

This first book in a planned trilogy moves at a rapid pace and is action-packed from the start....Wylie’s struggles with grief and a difficult relationship with her best friend mold her into a multilayered character who captures the reader’s sympathy.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

THE OUTLIERS is a fast-paced, emotional, and darkly compelling novel with an ending that works like a catapult. I can’t wait to find out what McCreight has hidden up her sleeves!

Julianna Baggott

A spellbinding thriller that keeps you guessing until the very last page.

Sara Shepard

An exhilarating novel that unfolds at warp speed.

Mary Kubica

This fast-paced thriller will have readers pinned to their seats with all the twists and turns in the second half.

Booklist

2016-03-16
Boston-area high school junior Wylie Lang is in danger of losing everything she loves. Her beloved, brilliant, war-photographer mother died in a car accident four months ago, and her best friend, Cassie, seems to be going rapidly off the rails. Suffering from acute anxiety, Wylie is unable to go to school and is stuck at home with her unsympathetic twin brother and her father, "a hard-core nerd scientist who lives entirely in his head." When Cassie's boyfriend gets a troubling text message from Cassie, Wylie manages to conquer her agoraphobia and accompanies Jasper on a desperate drive to an abandoned summer camp in northern Maine, where Cassie is being held by a mysterious group. In this story, no one is who they appear to be, and few adults can be trusted. Wylie, Cassie, and Jasper (all evidently white) become pawns in a complex charade involving the attempted hijacking of Dr. Lang's research by defense contractors who see profit in his discovery of rare emotional intelligence in a few research subjects, known as "outliers," including Wylie herself. At times the plot, like the Maine woods, thickens to a point of impenetrability, and the twists become far-fetched. Wylie's present-tense account is smooth and well-paced, however, if not strikingly original. Readers who are willing to suspend disbelief will enjoy this action-packed psychological thriller. (Thriller. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews