SWEET CHILD begins with 15-year-old New York City private school student Irie Heller looking back on the seismic events of the previous year. She and her three best friends had just entered ninth grade, which was supposed to be the greatest time of their lives. But they quickly got in over their heads, making bad decisions that ultimately leave two of them dead and one in a psych ward.
Irie initially accepts what the police investigation concludes – that it was a night of partying gone horribly wrong. Then she gets an anonymous note in her school locker suggesting otherwise. Over the next several months Irie goes on a reluctant search for answers. She starts out trying to solve a mystery and ends up discovering far more – about her friends, her parents and herself. Along the way, Irie also finds true love. Happy and stalled in her investigation, she finally decides to stop digging and move on with her life. Which is a fine plan until her boyfriend’s father emerges as the prime murder suspect.
SWEET CHILD is an honest exploration of friendship and family that reveals human limitations and flaws, but ultimately illuminates our capacity to forgive and heal.