Nothing beats the power of a strong friendship between two teenage girls. The world two best friends can conjure is nonsensical and wonderful, but also intense and risky, shaped by outside circumstances that push people together. Agnes and Fabienne are two such friends in The Book of Goose, a coming-of-age novel set in rural 1950s France in the grim aftermath of World War II. The two decide to write a book, a dark story that comes together with the help of an older man in town, which becomes an unexpected best seller. Years after their success, Agnes learns that Fabienne has died—and is finally able to come to terms with the truth about their obsessive friendship. —Mahita Gajanan