What Happened to Rachel Riley? (2023) is a novel by Claire Swinarski. It follows the story of Anna Hunt, an eighth grader at a new school, as she investigates what led Rachel Riley, formerly one of the most popular girls in the class, to become a social outcast. The book explores themes of boundaries and bodily agency, identity formation and social pressure in middle school, and pursuing justice and truth despite social resistance. Swinarski writes contemporary fiction for younger readers and both fiction and nonfiction for adults. What Happened to Rachel Riley? is one of her most acclaimed middle grade books. Its accolades include a 2024 Edgar Award nomination and being named a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Notable Book.

This guide refers to the 2023 HarperCollins Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The book and this guide include depictions of sexual harassment.

Plot Summary

The story includes a collection of different kinds of writing and correspondence—emails, notes, text messages, transcripts of voice recordings, news articles, and advertisements—that supplement the narration by Anna Hunt, the 12-year-old protagonist.

Anna just moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where she is starting eighth grade at East Middle School. For her social issues class, students must complete a semester-long project on a topic of their choosing that can be anything except an essay. Anna is intrigued by how Rachel Riley, once one of the most popular girls in her class, is now a social outcast. Her teacher, Ms. O’Dell, refuses to allow a school project on another student’s popularity. However, Anna investigates Rachel’s story anyway, hoping to use it to get into a teen podcasting summit.

Anna speaks to Rachel and discovers that she knows why she has been ostracized; however, she refuses to tell Anna. Anna speaks to several of her classmates, and the girls refuse to reveal what happened. One of the girls, Bee Becker, accidentally tells classmates that Anna is asking about Rachel for a podcast, and word spreads. Some of the popular boys in class reveal to Anna that one of them, Cody McLeen, is friends with Rachel in secret. However, Cody denies this.

At a class fundraiser, Anna learns that Rachel started a fire at the barn that was supposed to host the seventh-grade dance; as a result, the dance was canceled. Anna finds a news article about the incident that says that a minor unintentionally set the fire. She speaks to Rachel again; Rachel doesn’t deny the incident and appreciates Anna’s concern, but she refuses to reveal more.

Anna’s older sister, Nik, tells her that the boys in her high school are playing something they call “the game” that they brought over from Anna’s middle school. At Bee’s birthday party, Anna asks her classmates about this, and the girls pretend that they don’t know what she is talking about. A few days later, Anna finds one of her classmates’ missing dog. Grateful and relieved for Anna’s help, the classmate, Kaylee, tells Anna what happened the previous year.

“The game” was something that the boys in their class did last year, where they would slap different girls on their behinds and keep score. A girl’s worth in points was dependent on her attractiveness, and they targeted two particular girls: Jordan Russell, the prettiest and most popular girl in class, and Rachel, both because she was pretty and because she actively hated the game and spoke up against it. Everyone thinks that this is why Rachel burned down the barn, especially because a boy named Blake found a note the next day threatening to expose them to the teachers if the game didn’t stop. The class was furious with Rachel for getting their dance canceled and taking “the game” seriously, even though most of the girls were also uncomfortable with it.

Someone slips a handwritten note with the name of a website on it into Anna’s locker. With Nik’s help, Anna finds an archived version of the defunct website, which includes a tally of points among all the boys in “the game.” Nik wants Anna to tell someone about this, but Anna insists that students don’t play the game anymore. However, just a few days later, one of the boys snaps their classmate Chelsea’s bra strap in gym class, and the boys discuss the points that it warrants. Anna confronts Jordan, who also witnessed it. She urges her to do something; however, Jordan brushes it off.

After seeing this happen again, Rachel agrees to talk to Anna. She describes how the boys targeted Jordan because she never said anything about their behavior. However, Rachel is evasive about the note in Blake’s locker. Anna also sees Cody and Rachel together at an ice cream shop. After Rachel leaves, she confronts Cody, who explains that it was Rachel’s idea to keep their friendship a secret. Regardless, she is no longer friends with him now and is angry with him. Anna begins to suspect that Rachel didn’t burn down the barn herself or leave Blake the note; she is covering for someone else.

At the Winter Ball, Rachel sees Blake snap a girl’s bra strap again and uses the mic to publicly accuse the boys of sexual harassment. Blake retaliates by leading a chant using insults and slurs, and Anna dumps punch on him. The dance descends into a fiasco and is promptly canceled. Principal Howe makes Anna and Rachel write apology notes; when Rachel says that she is not sorry, she receives an in-school suspension. Meanwhile, the school doesn’t investigate the sexual harassment accusations.

After the dance, Anna gets her bra snapped for the first time and is disturbed. She has also figured out that Cody made the website and confronts him. He says that he only did it so that the boys would leave him alone for not participating; however, he also insinuates that Rachel is not the one who burned down the barn. Anna gets her bra snapped again at school; the same day, Nik shows her something that she discovered on the archived scorecard website: The winner was supposed to kiss Jordan backstage before the awards ceremony at the dance. Overwhelmed and upset, Anna breaks down and tells her mother and sister what has been going on. Maja, her mother, reassures her that her anger has a place, and they make a plan together.

Anna speaks to Rachel again, who finally reveals the truth: Jordan was at the barn to switch out her name in an award that she was to receive so that she wouldn’t have to be backstage at all. Rachel, who was the only one who knew Jordan’s plan, headed there to convince her that they had to tell the adults. Jordan accidentally knocked a lantern over, which started the fire, and Rachel offered to take responsibility if Jordan told on the boys. However, Jordan didn’t uphold her end of the deal, and Rachel was ostracized as a result.

Anna confronts Jordan, who expresses her regret at how she handled everything. She, Anna, and Rachel decide to speak to the school’s guidance counselor. The counselor holds a meeting with the entire class. Every girl speaks up about their negative experiences. The boys involved write an apology letter to the girls with their teacher’s supervision and agree to after-school detention where they will undergo sensitivity sessions about sexual harassment. The girls also help the school counselor rewrite the school’s sexual harassment policy, making it clearer and more detailed. Principal Howe emails Rachel a formal apology.

Different students come forward to give Anna material that she can use for her podcast. Cody also reveals to Anna that he is the one who gave Jordan the key to the barn. Ms. O’Dell ultimately allows Anna to turn in her investigation and report on Rachel after all. A few weeks later, Anna witnesses a boy snap a classmate’s bra strap again; however, one of his friends immediately calls him out and makes him apologize to the girl. The book ends with Anna reflecting on how it is possible to see change if one actively tries to create it.