The Queen’s Gambit meets The Hunger Games in this harrowing young adult thriller about a teen girl whose abusive father teaches her the finer points of chess and hunting for his own sinister ends.

Drawn from the author's own experiences.

NOW AVAILABLE

About N. Griffin

N. Griffin is the author of The Whole Stupid Way We Are, for which she was named one of Publishers Weekly's Flying Start Authors of 2013, as well as Just Wreck It All, Smashie McPerter and The Mystery of Room 11, Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of the Missing Goop, Smashie McPerter and the Shocking Rocket Robbery (forthcoming September 2022), and Trigger. She received her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives with her husband and a lot of dogs.

About Trigger

For forever, Didi has had to be the best at anything her father demanded of her—the fastest runner, the champion of chess tournaments, able to take down a deer with a bow and arrow at a dead sprint. If she isn't he takes away food. Clothes. His "love." Though he does love her—he says he does—it's why he pushes her. To be ready. Prepared. For anything. Ready to . . .

Praise for N. Griffin’s Work

“…the story builds to a climax both inevitable and wrenching. Readers who invest in this quirky set of characters and circumstances will be rewarded.”

Kirkus Reviews
(The Whole Stupid Way We Are)

“It’s impossible not to like clumsy, warm-hearted Dinah, even as her best intentions turn Skint’s family upside down; Griffin’s portrayal of Dinah and Skint’s sense of injustice, frustration, and rage is wrenching and difficult to forget.”

Publishers Weekly, starred review
(The Whole Stupid Way We Are)

“A heartfelt journey through the importance of self-love and forgiveness, perfect for fans of Sara Zarr and Gayle Forman.”

School Library Journal
(Just Wreck It All)

“This refreshingly different plot manages to address current social concerns, such as body image, PTSD, domestic abuse, and small-town high school politics, with energy and unsentimental compassion.”

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
(Just Wreck It All)

“Adorably earnest. . .
The whole is related in a sophisticated style that trusts its readers to keep up all the way to the incredibly sweet, Christie-worthy resolution. . . A welcome return!”

Kirkus Reviews
(Smashie McPerter)

“Readers will have fun going with Smashie’s flow—her custom-made outfits, shaky logic, wrongheaded accusations, and triumphant redemption.”

The Horn Book
(Smashie McPerter)

“Smashie will endear herself to many readers. . .
A gentle and humorous mystery for younger middle grade readers.”

—School Library Journal

School Visits

N. Griffin is delighted to do school visits with a wide range of participants. A full day’s visit can include up to four fifty-minute presentations; a half-day includes two. She alters her presentations depending on the age of the students involved and which of her books they’ve read.

Also by N. Griffin