If you’re hankering for yet another tale of an adolescent loner with major family issues, consider dipping into The God of Animals. New writer ARYN KYLE pulls off a YA/adult-fiction crossover with her tale of a young girl living on a Colorado ranch who’s fixated on a drowned classmate and then finds herself spending extra time with her unpopular English teacher. Sounds to us like an interesting plot mix of Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia and Jennifer Egan’s Look at Me. Decide for yourself when Kyle reads and signs at Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Boston | 7 pm | free | 617.566.6660.