Tag Archive | conflict

S for Sisters in Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood, by Abby McDonald (book review) – Sense and Sensibility and sunscreen

Apr22

book cover of Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald published by CandlewickPoor relatives can’t be picky about things,
Change can be painful…
but landing on your feet in Beverly Hills – wow!

Hallie and Grace’s very rich stepmother sells the sisters’ home so that their half-brother will “be provided for” – curses on Dad for dying without a valid will!

And Grace is attracted to stepmother’s brother (her step-uncle?) who appreciates her love of science combined with art.

You can read the first three chapters  free here, then be ready to head for your local library or independent bookstore because you’ll want to read the rest of this updated version of Sense and Sensibility ! While you’re there, look for other titles by McDonald, like Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots  (my no-spoiler recommendation here).

What other modernized classics have you read lately?
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Book info: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood / Abby McDonald. Candlewick Press, 2013. [author site] [publisher site]

My recommendation: Dad suddenly died and left everything to his new wife, including their childhood home. So Mom, Grace, and Hallie leave the misty cool of San Francisco and move in with Mom’s cousin – in his Beverly Hills mansion. Reinvent themselves or stay the same?

So weird to meet their stepmother’s brother at Dad’s wake – he’s just a bit older than the sisters. Theo and Grace visit all her favorite places in San Francisco one last time before she moves to L.A. and he heads back east to college. They were getting along so well…

Sometimes, Grace feels like the parent as big sister is dramatic to extremes and mom is artistic, laid-back. For them, being in Cousin Auggie’s guesthouse is starting anew; for shy Grace, it’s anguishing to change, no matter how nice their cousin’s young starlet wife is to them.

Hallie can’t wait to start her acting career, but agencies won’t even let her in the door. A chance encounter on the beach gets her into an exclusive circle of young actresses where she meets Dakota, lead singer for the hottest band, new love of her life! She’ll be his inspiration now, and life is very, very good. Never mind scarred Brandon next door, offering to photograph her for agency headshots, trying to get over his tour in Iraq.

Grace stays by the pool at Auggie’s all summer, then tries to find her place among the rich and ritzy at her new high school. Her lab partner Harry at least does his share of work and business-builder Palmer is a crazy-fun antidote to the celebrity gossip around them. Mom is so wrapped up in painting a new portrait series that she honestly has no idea what her daughters are experiencing, aside from the careful comments they make during family Sunday brunch.

Will Hallie ever get an audition? Will Dakota stay true to her?
Can Grace get over what might have been with Theo?
What happens when the in-crowd gossip hits a little too close to home?

Yes, this is Sense and Sensibility  transplanted into 92010 with all the social posturing and misunderstandings intact – and an added dose of sunscreen, rock music, and current events.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

R for Radiant Days, by Elizabeth Hand (book review) – words beyond time, art beyond sight

Apr20

book cover of Radiant Days by Elizabeth Hand published by VikingA rising sun centered with an eye,
A jawbone harp, a fishbone key,
Time-switching, century-crossing.

Who knows how a skinny white girl from rural West Virginia becomes the first urban tagger in D.C. in the late ’70s… Who knows why bitter winter and the colder bitterness of family discontent fuel a young poet during war…

And should you ever be looking for a photo of  Arthur, the one on the cover of Radiant Days  will be what you almost always find, as Rimbaud flared and flamed out as a very young man, writing all his poems by age 20, then abandoning it for a vagabond life.

“Early ripe, early rot” or my own phrase “a meteor in a world of candles” – which describes the young, soul-tortured artistic genius to you?
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Book info: Radiant Days / Elizabeth Hand. Viking, 2012.  [author site]  [publisher site]

My recommendation: Merle’s art didn’t fit into any of the neat categories her instructors required; Arthur’s poetry wasn’t pretty or uplifting. This passion for expression brings them together, the girl of 1978 and the boy of 1870, crossing the boundaries of time like a spear of light.

That her unconventional art was her ticket out of rural Appalachia surprised Merle a bit, but the Corcoran School accepted her.  During their affair, elegant instructor Clea attempts to connect her with influential gallery owners and culture beyond her ‘white trash’ origins, but Merle chafes at assignments and deadlines. The act of creating her art to be seen by passing commuter trains is far more important than passing classes, and soon her iconic Radiant Days graffiti appears all over D.C.

As the war closes his school, Arthur is out of a home, out of classmates to get money from, out of paper and ink for his poems. The brash young man heads toward Belgium when all sensible people are fleeing ahead of the Prussian Army, goes after a Paris newspaper job as discharged soldiers flood the city seeking work after the armistice. The turmoil in his spirit erupts in poems reflecting brutal post-war realities, torn relationships, bitter lovers’ quarrels with his mentor Paul.

Somehow, Merle and Arthur (in their separate centuries) meet a gruff man fishing for carp along a canal, are directed by him to an abandoned lockhouse for shelter, awaken in the same century – together! Somehow, they hear the other speak in their language, understand the vibrant images of each other’s work, are separated and reunited in one century and in the other.

How can they both know the same fisherman in different cities, different centuries?
How have they summoned one another across time and distance?
How do they share the same blazing visions, shown in her art, chronicled in his words?

As message, as weapon, as mirror of the soul, their work pleased them even if it satisfied no one else. This tale of early talent recognized by the world only in later years brings French poet Arthur Rimbaud into the life of an unheralded American artist, threaded through with music and mystery.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Q for Quest – Exile, by Rebecca Lim (book review) – amnesiac angel on a mission

Apr19

book cover of Exile by Rebecca Lim published by Hyperion TeenWaking up in a daze, again.
In someone else’s body, again.
Clinging to a thread of her own memory again.

An exiled angel, a desperate man, hints of other powers thwarting Mercy’s attempts to remember Luc or Ryan or why she cared for them – add this to a dead-end coffee shop job and a dying mother… how will Mercy resolve Lela’s situation and give the Melbourne teen her body back?

You’ll understand more of Mercy’s predicament if you read Mercy  first (see my no-spoiler recommendation) and sneak a peek at chapter 1 of Exile here. Hoping that Muse (book 3) and Fury  (book 4) get to the USA from Australia soon!

Can you truly remember love when all other memories are gone?
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Book info: Exile (Mercy, book 2) / Rebecca Lim. Hyperion, 2012. [author info]  [publisher site]

My recommendation:  Slammed awake in yet another body, Mercy now must answer to the name Lela, to care for ‘her’ mother dying of cancer, to work at ‘her’ dead-end job at the rundown café, to discover why she’s been called into this particular body at this exact time.

She has fragmentary memories of inhabiting a young singer’s body in another country, of being loved by a young man even after he realized she was not the real Carmen…why can’t she remember more of her time there? And just a flash of celestial Luc’s searing kisses in her dreams.

Poor Lela has had such a hard-luck life in this dreary Australian city, and now this, her mother withering before her very eyes. Perhaps Mercy was brought into her body to ease the pain of Mum’s passing, or she’s supposed to help Justine escape her terrible boyfriend, maybe turn co-worker Reggie into a decent human being (nah, impossible).

Mercy lets Lela’s muscle-memory take over coffee orders called to the barista, the best ways to ease around her grumpy boss and terrifying Sulaiman the cook. One man uses the café as his mid-morning office and helps her search for Carmen’s name on his computer in exchange for a dinner date. Very twitchy and OCD, this Ranald. Lela has turned him down for dates several times, it seems.

Rushing home when Lela’s mother takes a turn for the worse, Mercy is accosted by a small patch of energy, a being who’s as trapped here as she is, who gives her a tiny clue about who or what she might truly be. But there are larger problems ahead as a crazed customer threatens to kill everyone in the café, Justine’s boyfriend gets abusive, and Mercy’s online search for Carmen and Ryan is attracting unwanted attention in the city and elsewhere.

Could she really love Ryan, or is Luc right about the past she cannot remember?
Who is she? What is she? Why is Mercy right here, right now?
As Mercy journeys from body to body, can she ever find out where she truly belongs?

This second book in the Mercy series by Australian author Rebecca Lim is followed by Muse.  While Exile  can stand alone, read Mercy  first for maximum enjoyment. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley.

P for Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie, by Francesca Lia Block (book review) – reinventing herself

Apr18

book cover of Pink Smog by Francesca Lia Block published by Harper CollinsDad leaves and Mom crawls into the bottle,
Mean girls with slam books rule the junior high halls,
Weetzie’s certainly glad of the guardian angel who popped into her life.

No one loves the quirks and history of Hollywood and LA like Weetzie Bat, named Louise after a famous silent film star by her B-movie director dad and former starlet mom.  No one has better friends than too-thin Lily and so-gorgeous Bobby. With their friendship, her angel, and those mysterious silver envelopes, she might make it through this year of break-ups and breakdowns in Tinseltown.

It’s Support Teen Literature Day during National Library Week, so meet Weetzie as she creates herself amid the Pink Smog, then find the rest of the Weetzie Bat books at your  local library  (or independent bookstore).
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Book info:  Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie Bat / Francesca Lia Block. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2012. [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My recommendation: New school, Dad leaves, Mom drinks away her sorrows, and no one will call her by the right nickname – if this is what being 13 is like, then Weetzie feels cheated. But a guardian angel appears, and her life in LA takes on some new sparkle.

It must have been an angel who helped Weetzie pull her mom from the swimming pool, who did CPR till the ambulance came. The family who just moved in upstairs are no angels though, that girl with long black hair and empty eyes and creepy laugh, the mother who knew Weetzie’s movie director dad a little too well. The angel guy turns out to be Winter, and somehow Weetzie’s dad asked him to watch out for her… wherever Dad is.

Eventually her solitary lunchtimes at junior high give way to friendship with Bobby and Lily, against all the mean kids who hurt everyone’s feelings. With Bobby and Lily, life is better, and when hand-delivered silver envelopes start appearing with messages for her (ransom note style, with the cut-out letters), life starts to get interesting. Weetzie turns well-loved old clothes into fantastic fashions, tries to get Mom to eat dinner instead of drink it, wonders how love so sweet could turn so bitter.

Does that girl upstairs really have voodoo dolls?
Can Winter help Weetzie find her dad again?
What are all the silver envelope messages telling her?

This long-awaited prequel to Block’s popular Weetzie Bat series weaves the pivotal life events of young Weetzie through LA’s orange blossoms, star-sprinkled pavements, and Pink Smog of the 1970s.   (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

O for Out of Nowhere, by Maria Padian (fiction) – black refugees, white town, seeing red

Apr17

book cover of Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian published by KnopfMoving far away is difficult.
Keeping your faith in a new place is hard.
Soccer… is wonderful.

The Somali migration to Lewiston, Maine, that began in the early 2000s saw the arrival of newcomers who had almost nothing in common with its residents – not race, not religion, not food traditions, not clothes styles. Yet this influx of families has revitalized the formerly dying factory town; everything’s not perfect, but many positive things are happening there.

And the love of soccer? Seems to be universal, a language that every cheering fan and would-be goalie understands. Will it be enough to keep things calm at Chamberlain High? You’ll have to read this new novel yourself to find out what happens to Saeed and his family, to Tom and his family, to the town whose mayor asked refugees to stop inviting their relatives to live there.
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Book info: Out of Nowhere / Maria Padian. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013. [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: Saeed’s soccer is brilliant, his smile is blinding, his skin as black as the Somali refugee camp that his family had fled. Maybe Saeed could help Chamberlain High win against their biggest rivals, thought Tom, but winning over the townspeople to accept the Somali Muslim immigrants would be a far larger battle.

Tom’s small Maine hometown wasn’t thrilled at the secondary migration of Somali refugees from the big cities like Atlanta where they’d been placed on first arrival in the US. Most of these new students spoke very little English so the school counselors are frazzled.

Luckily, soccer has its own global language, so once Tom can get Saeed’s mother to sign his permission slips, the team will have their best chance ever against fancy Maquoit High School. Too bad Saeed’s sister Samira took an instant dislike to Tom (everyone likes Tom, especially the girls).

Too bad that Tom went along with his lifelong pal Donnie on a prank where they were caught redhanded. Now it’s hours of community service (bet that stoner doesn’t follow through)  along with soccer practice which lands Tom at the community center, tutoring a young Somali boy, meeting a cute college girl, and wondering if he really wants to stay with his affectionate but less-than-intelligent girlfriend.

What an amazing soccer season! Thanks to Saeed and the other Somali players, the team becomes a fast, accurate scoring machine. But the final games against their arch-rivals fall during Ramadan, when the Muslim students fast until sunset, so the team’s dream may drift away. Tom’s relatives continue to argue about the refugees, Donnie goes one goof too far, and a white supremacist group plans a rally in Enniston.

How much tension can a small town take before something snaps?
How can very different religions co-exist peacefully?
How can one small action change everything?

Tom thinks things through as he accepts these new players who came from Out of Nowhere, trying to make up his own mind about how the past impacts the future during his tumultuous senior year. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

M for Mixtape, mystery and mistakes in Wish You Were Here, by Barbara Shoup (book review)

Apr15

book cover of Wish You Were Here by Barbara Shoup published by FluxBest high school pal.
A great girlfriend.
A family that gets along.
Quit dreaming, Jackson!

Senior year of high school is rarely all sunshine and cupcakes for folks, but Jax really does have some odd and difficult things to work through before he graduates in 1994.

His rock band roadie dad is dating a vegetarian aerobics instructor, straight-arrow MBA Ted has asked Jackson if he’s okay with him marrying Mom, and Brady is still gone.

Is his life a mixtape where nothing can change or is it on the shuffle setting, like Ted’s state-of-the-art CD player?

It’s National Library Week, so head over to your  local library and look for this 2008 re-release of Shoup’s award-winning classic.
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Book info: Wish You Were Here / Barbara Shoup. Flux, 2008.   [author site]  [publisher site]

My recommendation: Jackson and his best friend are moving into their own apartment for their senior year of high school! Until Brady runs away the weekend before school begins… Now Jax has to cope with everything by himself: his mom remarrying, his dad going into the hospital, girl-trouble. Maybe he can follow the postcards and bring Brady back.

If he must have a stepdad, Ted is better than most, and now only-child Jax will have part-time little sisters. But a new house, knowing that Mom and Dad will never get together again, no Brady to escape with… and to top it off, the three stepsiblings will be going with Mom and Ted on their honeymoon trip to the tropics over Christmas Break!

At least he got to meet Amanda at the beach – funny, smart, likes Kristin and Amy, really likes Jax. They’ll just have to write letters until graduation (Class of ’94 forever) since they live so far apart. One postcard from Brady, but no real news.

Odd that Jax gets tied up with stoner Steph, Brady’s ex, when he gets back from the island. He doesn’t love her, she doesn’t love him, but it just happens. Keeps him a little bit sane when Dad is injured during a rock concert (yep, he’s a roadie) and Jax winds up staying at his house to help him recover. Another postcard from Brady, less informative than the first.

A road trip to Graceland, spring break in Florida with his classmates…life for Jax is like the random feature on the CD player in Ted’s new van – you never know what song will play next, and the surprise isn’t always a pleasant one.

How does this being a big brother thing work?
Can he find Brady before senior year is over?
Why can’t he figure out what comes after all this drama?

Published in 1994 and named to the American Library Association’s 1995 Best Books for Young Adults list, Wish You Were Here  has been re-issued by Flux Books. Jackson’s musings still ring true, as he deals with divorce, weird relatives, the end of school, and the disappearance of his best friend.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) I won this review copy in the Authors for Henryville auction. Cover image courtesy of the publisher.

L for Lost Crown, by Sarah Miller (book review) – Romanov grand duchesses, sisters, doomed

Apr13

book cover of The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller published by Atheneum Books for Young ReadersOlga and Tatiana,
Maria and Anastasia.
Royal blood unites them,
Royal blood dooms them.

The sisters Romanov truly believed that the Russian people loved them and their ailing young brother, the Crown Prince. But World War I revealed the truth, and their lives went from merriment and joy to grim gratitude for being allowed to stay together under house arrest in Siberia during the Revolution.

And does author Sarah Miller think that Anastasia survived? Read The Lost Crown  at your local library or independent bookstore to find out for yourself!
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Book info:  The Lost Crown / Sarah Miller.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2012.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview video]

My recommendation: Sailing on the imperial yacht that 1914 summer day, none of the sisters could imagine that their world would soon erupt in war, that the whole world would go to war, that the people’s love for their papa would turn to hate and “Down with the Tsar!” would sound throughout Russia.

When war is declared, the four grand duchesses – eldest Olga, prim Tatiana, peacemaker Maria, and Anastasia, who wishes she could fight alongside her father – and little Alexei, the Tsarevich, the royal heir, whose hemophilia makes every bruise life-threatening, must stay behind when Nicholas II goes to command the Russian troops.

As their mother, the Tsarina frets over every fever; as Mother of all Russian Children, she agonizes over the waves of wounded soldiers returning from the front. Her increasing reliance on mystic Rasputin and her German heritage condemn her in the eyes of the rebels who overthrow the government in the midst of World War.

The royal guard deserts them, Papa must abdicate the crown, and suddenly the longest family reign in history is broken as the Romanovs are taken from their palace, shifted through different cities secretively, and erased from Russian memory.

Why did the military turn on their Tsar and join the rebel forces?
How long can Alexei endure the rough travel without his doctor?
Will the royal family live through the glory days of the Russian Revolution?

Each chapter tells the fateful story from the viewpoint of a different sister, whose personality shines through, enlivening this pivotal tale of history with everyday customs and Russian endearments whispered by their parents. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

J for Jessica Spotswood – Born Wicked (book review) – eccentric sisters, witches in hiding

Apr11

hardback book cover of Born WIcked by Jessica Spotswood published by PutnamDon’t talk about the girls who disappeared,
Pray that the Brotherhood will approve your choice of husband,
Hide any hint of difference or intuition or possible magic skill,
Witches persecuted in New England… how 19th century?

A new alternate history, where New England is the ultra-religious patriarchy and the Middle East is the home of freedom.

The next book in the Cahill Witch Chronicles, Star Cursed,  will be published in June 2013, so grab Born Wicked  now at your  local library  or independent bookstore – and if you buy your copy from Jessica’s favorite indie bookstore, One More Page Books,  she’ll autograph it, too!

Oh, In case you wondered, clicking any link in BooksYALove posts won’t benefit me in any way, shape, or form, just like my Policies page states.

Is Cate right to keep secrets if the truth will put her family in grave danger?
**kmm

Book info: Born Wicked (Cahill Witch Chronicles, Book 1) / Jessica Spotswood. Putnam, hardcover 2012; Speak, paperback 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My recommendation: Magic only in the rose garden, avoid attracting the Brotherhood’s attention, watch over one another – that’s what Mother told Cate before she died. How can a sixteen-year-old keep her younger sisters from spellcasting in this land where suspected witches are sent to Harwood Prison?

Oh, to live in Dubai where women have freedom, can learn more than reading and simple sums, where they can use their magic gifts if they choose! Here in New England, the Brothers preach that magic is “devil-sent” and the Brotherhood Council runs absolutely everything.

Keeping to themselves except to attend Services and piano lessons hasn’t stopped gossip about the Cahill sisters, as Cate had hoped. Now Father has hired a governess for them! Worse yet, she’s from the Sisterhood, where women must go if they do not marry by 18. She will polish their manners and perhaps help them repair their social standing in their small town.

Cate’s own intention ceremony is in just six months, when she’ll announce who she intends to marry – probably Paul, her lifelong friend who’ll return from university soon. But she’s becoming fond of Finn, the bookstore owner’s son who’s had to take on other work as the Brotherhood drives off their customers.

Social calls among Brotherhood wives bring out new information about old situations, and the most influential daughters decide that Cate is worth spending time with after all, to her chagrin. A letter from “Z.R.” tells Cate to search for her mother’s diary and find answers there.

Who is Z.R. and why did she wait so long to contact them?
Is there truly a prophecy about three sisters like Cate, Maura, and Tess?
Will Cate’s intention ceremony begin a life of contentment or close the door on happiness?

This first book in the Cahill Witch Chronicles introduces an alternate world where New England is a place of religious oppression, where truth can be more dangerous than lies, and where Cate must decide how much she’ll sacrifice to protect her sisters from the Brotherhood’s menace.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

H for Heath in Catherine, by April Lindner (book review) – music, mystery, star-crossed lovers

Apr9

book cover of Catherine by April Lindner published by PoppyA legendary punk rock club,
Launching new talent, booking the best bands,
Just home-sweet-home…until she disappears.

It’s easy to see why Chelsea wants to find out more about the mother she thought was dead, to discover what made Catherine leave her behind, to learn why she never communicated with them again. What better place than The Underground, where Catherine grew up?

Based on the classic doomed romance of Wuthering Heights  and transported to the punk music scene of New York City, Catherine features alternating chapters by Chelsea now and Catherine then, threaded throughout with missed cues, misunderstandings, and mystery.

Check out “How I Wrote It” article by Lindner here, then read the first two chapters of Catherine  here – you’ll be hooked!

So, why are we so attracted to stories of romance with unhappy endings?
**kmm

Book info: Catherine / April Lindner. Poppy/ Little Brown, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]

My recommendation: As a teen Chelsea discovers that her mother didn’t die years ago as Dad told her, but had left to find out something and never returned. What and why are questions that Chelsea vows to answer – now!

Dad never told her much about Mom; it was a letter from her addressed to toddler Chelsea that she finds in a box of old photos that spurs her search. That return address in New York City is her only lead, so away she goes. Turns out that Mom’s family home is a decades-old punk rock club founded by Chelsea’s late grandfather! The Underground launched countless bands in the 70s and now is owned by a moody guy named Hence…who knew Catherine, her mom.

Unwillingly, Hence allows Chelsea to stay in Catherine’s old apartment in The Underground for a few days while she tries to piece together some answers. When Chelsea finds Catherine’s journal among her collection of books, even more questions arise. Now she must locate Mom’s best friend and her brother before it’s time to head home to Dad and school.

Why do folks at the club react so strangely to her mom’s name?
Where did mom’s brother go when he gave up the club after the death of their father?
What exactly is Hence’s connection to Catherine?

As Chelsea discovers more about the mom she never got to know, alternating chapters have Catherine telling her own story of love, music, passion, and betrayal. This updated version of Wuthering Heights,  transplanted from the gloomy moors to New York’s music world, spins through both young women’s lives with all the personal turmoil and drama intact.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

F for Freaks Like Us, by Susan Vaught (book review) – voices in his head, missing person mystery

Apr6

book cover of Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught published by BloomsburyThe police say…
The FBI special agent says…
The voices in his head say…
What if Jason did something to make Sunshine disappear?

Jason answers to the nickname Freak, counts himself lucky enough to be with his best friends Sunshine and Drip in the special class full of “alphabets” like ADHD, and knows that he can’t trust his own memories because of his schizophrenia – yet is determined to find out what happened to selectively mute Sunshine when she just vanished.

Discover Jason’s unusual story of friendship, love, and loss at your local library or independent bookstore and consider how you treat the “alphabet” people in your life.
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Book info:  Freaks Like Us / Susan Vaught. Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers, 2012. [author site]  [book trailer] – ebook may still be available

My recommendation: When their best friend goes missing, Jason and Derrick know they have to find Sunshine, because she had let them know that someone was hurting her. These self-contained class teens are best friends forever, and if they have to go off their meds to get the answers, they will.

Jason knows he’s schizophrenic, hears voices even when he takes his medication, calls himself Freak like everyone else at the high school, and worries that Sunshine’s delinquent brother will drag her along into his troublemaking. Derrick’s big brothers nicknamed him Drip when he was little, and the name stuck when he didn’t outgrow his allergies and ADHD. And sweet Sunshine is selectively mute: she can talk, but she just doesn’t want to.

The three friends got off the short bus together in their neighborhood at 4:30, and by 5 o’clock Sunshine had vanished. Their routines never vary; they must keep things the same to cope in the big world; there’s no way that Sunshine left of her own choice!

Jason’s mom, the Army colonel, pulls some strings to get the FBI on the case before too much time has passed. The voices in Jason’s head tell him that he should remember something that would help the searchers find Sunshine…so he decides to stop taking his medication so the voices will tell him the answer.

The FBI agents say the best chance of finding Sunshine is in the first 24 hours, so Jason counts the hours remaining, tries to hear which voice in his head is reminding him of clues he heard earlier, and agonizes that he might have something to do with her disappearance.

Should Jason and Drip try to find Sunshine on their own?
Why won’t her stepdad cooperate more with the agents?
What about those boys who always tease her at school?
Why can’t Freak remember that important clue?

The clock is ticking, the voices are insistent, and Jason’s not sure whether he can trust Agent Mercer of the FBI or not – Freak’s world turns upside down when Sunshine vanishes, and readers are along for his dangerous and confusing journey toward the truth.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.