D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.

White, Abby. D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.
August 5, 2025 by Levine Querido
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

D.J. and her mother have moved from Indiana to Briar, Ohio, to live with her Aunt Judy, Uncle Jay, and cousin Davey after the death of her older cousin Rachel. Her mother is luck enough to have found a job teacher LGBTQIA+ studies at Briar Collge. Her aunt and uncle aren't doing well at all, since the death was ruled a suicide. D.J. struggles to understand why her artistic, wonderful cousin would do such a thing, and when she starts 8th grade and hears rumors about her cousin, she decides to investigate. She talks to Char, who is the editor of the school newspaper as well as a student greeter, and the two decide to work together. D.J. does not tell Char that she is related to Rachel. D.J.'s bat mitzvah has been delayed a year because of Rachel's death, so she starts to prepare for it with the very cute Jonah acting as her tutor. It's hard to balance looking through all of Rachel's social media and paying another student to hack into suspects' school records with studying her Torah portion, but D.J. can't cope any other way. She's obsessed with finding a small goat necklace that she gave her cousin that wasn't returned with her other effects. She and Char think that something is very suspicious, since there are no public police records about Rachel. They have quite a list of suspects, and the spy on them, and even steal something from a locker. 
Strengths: Even though D.J. thinks that Briar "has the misfortune of being mapped in Ohio", she makes the best of the move. She makes a friend quickly, enjoys being with Davey, and finds an interest. She and Char use their journalistic skills to figure out Rachel's movements and interactions with others. There's a nice inclusion of Jewish culture; I figured that the book was probably set near Cleveland, and it's not surprising that the author grew up in Shaker Heights. 
Weaknesses: The cover, and the fact that D.J. was in 8th grade, made me think this would be a middle grade book. There are eleven f words in the text, and there is also some drinking. I won't buy it, but I know other middle school librarians might want to take a look at it. If D.J. had gotten some counseling, or if her mother had talked to her more, she might not have needed to investigate what clearly was a death by suicide. 
What I really think: For books about dealing with the aftermath of suicide, more middle grade appropriate books include Morrison's Coming Up Short,  Bishop's Things You Can't Say, or Howard's The Visitors. For older readers, this is similar to Mather's Where Was Goodbye? Nolan's Running Past Dark. 

Still not enjoying the trope that parents who have a child die become catatonic. It's insulting.