What She Missed: A Lyrical YA Coming-of-Age Story for Black Girls About Summer Friendship and First Love in Texas

Sixteen-year-old Ebony Jones is devastated when her family moves from Houston to her grandmother’s house in the country. There’s absolutely nothing for Ebony in Alula Lake, Texas. So she thinks.

Award-winning author Liara Tamani’s What She Missed is a rich and emotional novel that celebrates change, nature, friendship, growing up, and love, for readers of Sarah Dessen’s The Rest of the Story and Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land.

When Ebony and her parents move from Houston, Texas, to her grandmother’s house in a small lake town, Ebony is sure her life is doomed. And to make matters worse, the ghost of Ebony’s beloved grandmother—a strong swimmer who tragically drowned in the lake—is everywhere. Alula Lake does offer one perk: reconnecting Ebony with her childhood friend, Jalen.

But as Ebony settles into life, she finds herself drifting away from Jalen and gravitating to his older sister, Lena. Lena is chaotic, disorderly, and rebellious, yet she offers a reprieve for the anger and sadness Ebony feels about losing so much.

An ode to nature, art, friendship, history, family, and love, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores one girl’s summer of self-discovery as she reimagines the world and her place in it. What She Missed is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Nina LaCour, and Nicola Yoon. 

One summer to redefine herself. One lake that holds all her fears. And two friends who will force her to choose what she really wants.

* Childhood Friends to First Love: Ebony and Jalen pick up right where they left off. But as the summer heat builds, so does the tension between them.
* An Artist’s Identity Crisis: An aspiring painter, Ebony finds her biggest challenge isn’t a blank canvas, but the self-portrait she can no longer see clearly.
* A Summer of Reckoning: Forced to confront the ghost of her grandmother and the life she left behind, Ebony must decide who she is when everything has changed.
* Complex Friendships: Torn between her steady childhood friend Jalen and his chaotic, rebellious sister Lena, Ebony must navigate new loyalties and attractions that could lead to healing—or heartbreak.