Mary Stewart Atwell will be appearing in Carrington Auditorium, Room 208, on February 22 at 7:00 p.m. Come join us and listen to Atwell read from her recent publication Wild Girls. Afterward, she will be available for conversation and autographs. Paw Prints Bookstore will have a booth in Carrington Hall where you can purchase the book at the reading.

Growing up in the small Appalachian town of Swan River, Kate Riordan is overcome by two paralyzing fears: that she’ll be condemned as a townie forever, and that she’ll turn into one of the monstrous wild girls that menace Swan River, killing anything that crosses their paths. In hopes of escaping this fate, Kate enrolls in the Swan River Academy, a posh all-girls boarding school planted inside of the otherwise desolate area. There, Kate finds herself divided between two worlds: the haunted town she calls home, and the foreign realm of privilege and safety within the academy walls. The town’s dark history draws you in, but it’s Kate who pushes you forward as you root for her every step of the way.

Wild Girls is a witty, biting portrayal of privileged teenage girls and a suspenseful story fueled by the threat of violence. Atwell traverses the universal territory of adolescence with a voice that’s all her own. Her wild girls are strange and fascinating creatures that offer a brilliant feminist twist on the anger and frustration teenage girls feel over their own powerlessness.