I told Danny I didn’t want this story because I didn’t think it was one, and that was a lie too. I don’t know that the truth is much better. Girls go missing all the time. And ignorance is bliss. I didn’t want this story because I was afraid. I was afraid of what I wouldn’t find and I was afraid of what I would.
I still am.
I never got to meet Sadie Hunter, but I feel in some small though significant way, I’ve gotten to know her. Twenty years ago, she was born and placed in her mother’s arms, and six years after that her sister Mattie was placed in hers, and her whole world came alive.
In Mattie, Sadie found a sense of purpose, a place to put her love. But love is complicated, it’s messy. It can inspire selflessness, selfishness, our greatest accomplishments and our hardest mistakes. It brings us together and it can just as easily drive us apart.
It can drive us.
When Sadie lost Mattie, it drove her to leave her home in Cold Creek, to take on the loneliness and pain of thousands of miles, just to find her little sister’s murderer and make the world right again, even, possibly, at the expense of herself.
We may never know what, exactly, happened between Sadie and Jack, but I know what I want to believe. And in this aftermath, it’s Sadie’s love for Mattie that remains, to fill in those gaps until—if, when—Sadie returns to tells us in her own words.
And Sadie, if you’re out there, please let me know.
Because I can’t take another dead girl.
also by courtney summers
Cracked Up to Be
Some Girls Are
Fall for Anything
This Is Not a Test
What Goes Around
Please Remain Calm
All the Rage
About the Author
Courtney Summers is the author of young adult novels including Fall for Anything, Some Girls Are, and Cracked Up to Be. She lives and writes in Canada, where she divides her time between a piano, a camera, and a word-processing program when she’s not planning for the impending zombie apocalypse. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
Sadie
The Girls
The Girls
Also by Courtney Summers
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SADIE. Copyright © 2018 by Courtney Summers. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.wednesdaybooks.com
www.stmartins.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-10571-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-10572-1 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250105721
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: September 2018