Featured Book

Following by Jeffry W. Johnston

High-school junior Alden has always fancied himself an amateur detective: It's important work. You never know about people; what they show on the outside is often not what's on the inside. You've gotta watch for those brief moments when the hidden part slips out. After Alden's parents are killed during a mass shooting, investigating suspicious leads is all he can think about. Curiosity gets him in hot water when he follows popular senior athlete Greg to a secluded area behind the high school and witnesses what he thinks is Greg murdering his girlfriend, Amy. When Amy turns up at school unmistakably not murdered, Alden has to reshape his theories. Guided by his best friend (and daughter of the local police chief) Charlie, Alden walks a fine line between sticking to his convictions and making a false police report. Johnston's (The Truth, 2016) latest is a slow-burn thriller that veers in surprising directions, with a final twist no one will see coming.

--Caitlin Kling Copyright 2019 Booklist

Featured Book

Trail of Crumbs by Lisa J. Lawrence

After moving into a dank and drafty basement suite in West Edmonton with her truck- driving father, nasty stepmother and taciturn twin brother, Ash, seventeen-year-old Greta doesn't have high expectations for her last year of high school. When she blacks out at a party and is told the next day that she's had sex, she thinks things can't get any worse. She's wrong.

While Greta deals with the confusion and shame of that night, her stepmother and father choose that moment to disappear, abandoning Ash and Greta to the mercy of their peculiar landlord, Elgin, who lives upstairs. Even as Greta struggles to make sense of what happened to her, she finds herself enjoying her new and very eccentric family, who provide the shelter and support that has long been absent from her life. Much to Greta's surprise, she realizes there is still kindness in the world--and hope.

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