Five Total Strangers

Five Total Strangers, a young adult thriller by New York Times bestselling author Natalie D. Richards, follows Mira, a high school student and artist, as she attempts to get home during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve. Told in Mira’s first-person narration interspersed with anonymous letters that Mira has not read, the novel follows Mira’s attempts to survive the journey home. After her flight is cancelled, Mira goes against all her instincts and accepts a ride with strangers, unaware that one of the people in the car is the letter writer, who has been obsessed with her for nearly a year. The novel was published in 2020 by Sourcebooks Fire, an imprint of Sourcebooks.

This study guide references the Sourcebooks Fire Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source material deals heavily with stalking and includes drug abuse and violence.

Plot Summary

Mira is flying home from California to Pennsylvania to spend the Christmas holiday with her mother. On the flight, she meets a young woman named Harper. As they arrive in Newark, Mira discovers that nearly all flights, including her own, have been cancelled due to an impending snowstorm. Harper says she’s going to rent a car and offers Mira a ride, but Mira turns her down.