1. Title: Riverdale: The Day Before by Micol Ostow, 978-1338289442, Scholastic Inc., New York, 2019, $9.99, 271 pp.
2. Genre: Young Adult Fiction
3. Characters: The main characters include Jughead Jones, the writer. He is a student at Riverdale High and is thought of as lone wolf. He spends most of his time at the local diner “Pop’s” and eats his weight in burgers and shakes. The best way to describe him would be that he is an observer and curious about the town he lives in. There is also Archie, the former best friend of Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper. They had drifted apart during the summer. Archie can be described as a jock, one of the popular crowd. He attends Riverdale High and is apart of the football team. He starts to get into writing music which leads him to taking music lessons with his music teacher Ms. Grundy. This leads to a secret he could never tell his father. To complete the trio, there is Betty Cooper. She is also a writer and can be described as a modern day Nancy Drew. She loves a good mystery, even when it’s her own to solve. She is living in LA for the summer as an intern for the online blog, Hello Giggles. She is known by everyone in Riverdale as a “goody two-shoes,” but secretly wishes she was more like her alter ego, LA Betty, who isn’t afraid to take risks. Along with the three main characters, there is Veronica Lodge. She is a socialite upper east sider in New York. A rich girl spending her way through life with her shady, Bernie Madoff type father’s money. The best way to describer her is, this is Veronica’s world and we’re just living in it.
4. Plot: The plot follows the perspective of the four main characters and the events that take place the day before the 4th of July celebration, which leads to a gun shot and disappearance of Jason Blossom. This book is a prequel. This book gives all the background information for future books. In the end there is no ending. This books tell’s the reader why the ways things are in Riverdale and where its characters are in the moment. Riverdale may not be the safe town everyone perceives it to be.
5. Touchy Areas: there is a implication of a teacher and student relationship. The student is only in high school. There is mention of gangs, alcoholism, and drugs.
6. Related Titles: Riverdale: Get of Town and Riverdale: The Maple Murders by Micol Ostow.
7. Movies: Heathers (1988), Jawbreaker (1999), Donnie Darko (2001), and Brick (2005). Music: “Mad World” by Tears for Fears (1982), “Material Girl” by Madonna (1985) Poem: “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost, “Winter: My Secret” by Christina Rosetti, Art: “Stop Off On Route 66” and “Cowgirls and Customs Down in the Valley” by Larry Grossman, Archie Comics, Classical Work: “The Scarlett Letter” by Nathanial Hawthorne
8. Evaluation: I thought this was a good set up for future Riverdale installments. The book is based off a CW adapted series of the Archie comics. The author gave me a good idea of who these character are and how their lives had previously played out. I enjoyed the four person perspective. Instead of having a first-person omniscient character, we had the views and thoughts of the four main characters. The ending of the book left me curious and wanting more to solve the mystery and secrets of Riverdale.

Reviewed by: Jillian Harvey