Deviant

Gr 9 Up—Abigail is an "unloved nobody"-at least that's what she calls herself and all the other teens who live at the home for abandoned children in Scotland. Everything changes, though, when the social worker tells her that her birth mother has died and left her something. That something is a letter telling her that Abigail's father and older sister, Becky, are waiting for her in LA. There is also a one-way plane ticket and bundles of cash. Not having many other options, Abigail gets on a plane and meets up with her new life and her new family. But things are weird in LA: her father has secrets she can't crack, her stepmother is too good to be true, and free-spirited Becky is taking her to underground graffiti parties with all of her friends. Then, someone dies and everything turns even more mysterious. This thriller has great character development and will keep readers hooked until the cliff-hanger ending. The first half is a bit slow, but it sets up the characters and scenes well, and once the mystery really gets going, readers will be glued to their seats to find out just what everyone is hiding. There's quite a bit of crude language in this one, but overall it's a great action-filled mystery.—Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR